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Delhi infant deaths: Series of complaints against 2nd unit of Vivek Vihar baby care centre owner
Complaints comprise improper storage of oxygen cylinders, employment of unqualified doctors, leaks from unauthorised lab on premises & operating without licence
The owner of the Baby Care New Born Hospital in Vivek Vihar, the site of a fire and subsequent deaths of six infants on Saturday night, ran a branch in west Delhi’s Paschim Puri that shut overnight following the incident. Locals and investigators alleged multiple complaints over the neonatal centre flouting norms were repeatedly ignored over the past six years.
The complaints are about improper storage of oxygen cylinders, employment of unqualified doctors, leaks from an unauthorised lab on the premises and operating without a licence, according to residents.
Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said: “The owner of this (Vivek Vihar) hospital also runs another similar hospital in Paschim Puri. Cases have been registered against him twice (in past) in different incidents. These cases are going on against him in Karkardooma Court and Tis Hazari Court. A surprise inspection was done in which deficiencies were found, so a case was registered against him. Once he was found running the hospital without registration, a case was registered against him. It is expected that soon the court will give its verdict against the owner of this nursing home in these cases and he will be given a severe punishment.”
Locals pointed out, especially the rule flouted in storing oxygen cylinders, which were reportedly emptied on Monday morning, on the floor right below where babies were kept in incubators. Two locals sustained injuries in cylinder blasts that took place in May 2018 and June 2018 at the facility, they said.
Read Here | Delhi children hospital fire: Owner ran three hospitals without licence
Fifty-five-year-old Ramesh Kanojia, whose house is located on the street adjacent to the hospital, said: “For the past six years, we have been complaining against this hospital. They used to keep 20-30 oxygen cylinders right at the entrance of the street. Earlier, they used to keep it outside the hospital premises and eventually, took them slightly inside but they were still exposed to public causing a grave risk to the safety of kids and to all residents.”
He said that the residents’ welfare association approached several authorities through RWA president Mamta Soni and her husband Girish Soni, the Madipur MLA from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), but to no avail.
The hospital, which had the same facade as the one in Vivek Vihar, has been running since 2011 on the main road, between a bakery and a residential street.
Following a blast in May 2018, a complaint was sent from the MLA’s office to the deputy commissioner of police concerned, alleging that the incident took place due to negligence and that the hospital did not have storage space for cylinders. “There is a nursery care unit on the first floor. Yet they have installed a mobile network tower on the floor,” the complaint read.
Read Here | Delhi baby hospital fire tragedy: Grieving parents recall horror, demand justice
In a complaint dated June 14, 2018, addressed to Delhi Fire Services, the MLA wrote: “Hospital installed some oxygen and nitrogen cylinder outside the hospital wall in public area. Due to these cylinder, resident are facing regular accident of blast... that the hospital installed these cylinders in residential without getting of NOC from your department (sic)”.
A senior DFS official said, “We are not an authority to take action but (ours is a) licensing department of the government.”
In July 2018, another complaint was sent to the buildings department of the MCD that the accused, Dr Naveen Khichi, was running an illegal lab inside the centre and chemicals were flowing onto the street, causing public health concerns. The letter said that locals asked the doctor to shift the lab multiple times, but he did not.
In August 2018, a complaint addressed to the Nursing Home Cell, DHS, alleged that the facility was running illegally, and sought action, citing regular cylinder blasts.
In December 2018, after alleged inaction by all departments, a complaint was sent to the subdivisional magistrate of Punjabi Bagh by the RWA, sharing details of concerns, saying “no action has been taken as of now”.
Delhi hospital fire: Baby care centre owner, doctor on duty during blaze, sent to police custody
A government official said that the subdivisional magistrate has been asked to inspect the facility to check for lapses. “He has been asked to submit an action taken report,” a government official said, adding that the officials of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, the chief district medical officer and the fire department will inspect the site.
The police and MCD did not respond to request for comment on the complaints.
The latest complaint, lodged in May 2023 by the MLA’s office, said: “This hospital is flouting all norms and guidelines framed by different deptt.”
Speaking to HT, the MLA said, “People have come to me, time and again, to complain about this centre. We tried to speak to the doctor but he is an ill-mannered man. We requested all departments to take action, but nothing happened.”
Police said the licence for the facility was cancelled temporarily in 2019, but was renewed in 2022. They are checking whether the facility operated in the interim, without a licence. Locals denied that the centre was shut.
Under the renewed licence, the facility is allowed to operate with 10 beds till March 2025.
