3 months after inspection, Sec-10 civil hospital yet to be made fire-proof

Three months after the Gurugram fire department visited the Sector 10 Civil Hospital and found that it not only is operating without an NOC but does not even have the basic firefighting equipment in place, there has been no change in the establishment that sees a daily footfall of more than 2,000, said officials on Tuesday

Three months after the Gurugram fire department visited the Sector 10 Civil Hospital and found that it not only is operating without an NOC but does not even have the basic firefighting equipment in place, there has been no change in the establishment that sees a daily footfall of more than 2,000, said officials on Tuesday .

Officials said the lives of patients and staff at the Sector 10 Civil Hospital will be at risk if a similar incident breaks out here unless the hospital puts in place the firefighting equipment and conforms to the fire norms. (Sourced)

The fire department has become more wary after at least eight people died at a hospital in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh after a fire broke out on Monday. Officials said the lives of patients and staff at the Sector 10 Civil Hospital will be at risk if a similar incident breaks out here unless the hospital puts in place the firefighting equipment and conforms to the fire norms.

In May, officials from the fire department visited the Civil Hospital and found it only has a fire extinguisher and sprinkler system installed at the basement of the building. They then served a notice to the health department.

Ramesh Kumar Saini, fire safety officer (FSO), Haryana Fire and Emergency Services, said since the fire department’s visit in May, there has been no further progress on-ground.

“If a fire, such as the one in Jabalpur, occurs, then the civil hospital is extremely vulnerable as it lacks even basic firefighting equipment... At the time of our visit, health department officials said that tendering work on upgrading the firesystem was initiated in April but there has been no progress to this end,” said Saini, who is overseeing the fire upgrade at the hospital on behalf of the Gurugram fire department.

Last month, the fire department issued notices to all major government buildings, including the Civil Hospital, for upgrading their fire equipment and obtain an NOC latest by November 30. The fire department has appointed nodal officers for each public building to assist the concerned authorities to meet the requisite norms as listed under the Haryana Fire and Emergency Services Act, 2022, by the stipulated deadline.

According to officials from the health department, the civil hospital sees a daily footfall of more than 2,000 patients and staff members.

Chief medical officer (CMO) Virender Yadav said the health department has submitted ₹1.57 crore to the Public Works Department (PWD) for upgrading the firefighting system. “The money has been transferred to the PWD for upgrading the firefighting equipment. All further assistance will be provided by the health department to the Gurugram fire department and PWD for ensuring the fire norms and equipment are upgraded at the earliest,” said Yadav.

The civil hospital has been operating without a fire NOC right from its inception in 2012.

“The money from the health department for upgrading the firefighting system has been received and tendering work for the project is underway. We are aiming to start work next month,” said Praveen Chaudhary, superintending engineer (SE), PWD.

PWD officials said that if the work starts next month, they will complete it by early November.

According to fire department officials, besides setting up water sprinklers across the three-storey hospital, necessary fire upgrades include setting up smoke detectors, fire alarms, water hydrants, water pipes, and sand buckets. Adherence to norms, such as having a wide entrance to the building, wide staircases, multiple entries, and exit points, all of which are encroachment free, is essential for procuring an NOC from the fire department.