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PCMC issues notice to 438 hospitals operating sans fire NOC
The fire brigade officials will visit this hospital and conduct the inspections to verify the documents and check the fire safety systems. If the inspections show satisfactory compliance, the NOC will be issued, said official
The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has issued show cause notices to 438 private hospitals in the twin city of Pimpri Chinchwad operating without fire compliance and a No Objection Certificate (NOC), said the officials.
The civic body has 623 hospitals registered under the Maharashtra Nursing Homes (Amendment) Rules, 2021.
Manoj Lonkar, deputy municipal commissioner of PCMC, informed following the discrepancies and fire incidents reported at hospitals in different parts of the city for the past three months, we have made it mandatory for all hospitals to take the NOC from the fire brigade department of PCMC.
“The effective implementation of the rule and scrutiny was started from last week of November,” he said.
According to the officials, since November 25 to date, show-cause notices have been issued to 438 hospitals. Out of the 623 registered hospitals, fire NOC has been given to 56 hospitals and applications from 184 hospitals have been received. Besides, before the notice letters were issued to 568 hospitals, officials said.
Lonkar, further informed a significant number of hospitals don’t which are old and don’t meet all the criteria required for the fire NOC. They are given relaxation on the condition that they will install additional firefighting equipment and systems. “The hospitals were initially given reminder letters and notices were served later. However, we would soon start taking action against them,” he said.
Rushikant Chipade, fire officer, PCMC, said, “We have received applications from 184 hospitals requesting the NOC. The fire brigade officials will visit this hospital and conduct the inspections to verify the documents and check the fire safety systems. If the inspections show satisfactory compliance, the NOC will be issued.”
Dr Maya Bhalerao, president of Indian Medical Association (IMA) Pimpri Chinchwad chapter, said, “Following fire safety norms is important and all hospitals have to follow them. However, some of the norms for fire NOC are stringent and old hospitals are unable to complete the compliance.”
Dr Bhalerao, further, said, that hospitals regularly conduct fire audits and safety compliance but PCMC should give relaxation to old hospitals. “Some stringent norms like separate entry and exit for patients, staircase of 6 feet wide are not possible for hospitals which are decades old. However, stringent norms can be enforced for upcoming new setups,” she added.
