BMC finds 441 nursing homes in violation of fire safety norms

The drive was held keeping in mind the fire incident at Bhandara district general hospital in Nagpur, which broke out in January, killing ten infants.

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s public health department has found 441 nursing homes in violation of fire safety norms during a recent drive. The weeklong drive conducted from July 11 to July 25 cracked down on nursing homes to check for civic irregularities.

The police registered an FIR against 10 nursing homes for not complying with fire safety norms

The drive was held keeping in mind the fire incident at Bhandara district general hospital in Nagpur, which broke out in January, killing ten infants. Besides, 11 people lost their lives in a major fire that broke out in Sunrise Hospital of Dreams Mall on LBS Marg in Bhandup (west) last year.

“If we come across instances of non-compliance with fire norms, we issue a show cause notice. Then a second notice is served, and still, if establishments do not comply with norms, BMC and the fire department take action against them. In the case of unregistered nursing homes, we don’t allow registration. In the case of registered nursing homes, we do not renew registrations,” said Mangala Gomare, executive health officer, BMC.

The report stated that the number of registered fire-compliant nursing homes was 6,43,391 and 50 unregistered ones were without fire compliances. A total of 181 nursing homes were closed and overall 12,158 nursing homes were inspected.

The police registered an FIR against 10 nursing homes for not complying with fire safety norms. While 51 cases are pending in court, four nursing homes were fined ₹10,000 each.