Govt on toes after Kolkata blaze, hospitals given 1 month for NOC

Delhi health minister Dr AK Walia has given one month's notice to erring hospitals to obtain a fire NOC.

Delhi health minister Dr AK Walia has given one month's notice to erring hospitals to obtain a fire NOC.

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Taking lessons from the fire incident at Kolkata's Advanced Medical Research Institute (AMRI), which claimed 89 lives, the government has cracked its whip on all its hospitals.

Walia has directed the medical superintendents of all hospitals to work with the Public Works Department (PWD) and fire officials and get all fire safety arrangements in place.

"As an immediate measure, I have asked all hospitals to dispose of all waste and rejected equipment to avoid clutter," the minister said.

"I have also asked them to broaden the entry and exit routes of all the hospitals to allow smooth passage of fire tenders. They have been directed to check and repair the electric wiring within the hospital premises as damaged wires cause fire mishaps," Walia said.

The minister said he has called the chief of the Delhi Fire Services for the auditing of all hospitals by mid-January next year.

"I have asked the medical superintendents and PWD engineers to submit their fire preparedness report at the earliest," he added.

"It is the PWD's responsibility to get fire clearances before handing over the building to the hospital authorities," said a Delhi government official.

Walia has ordered that all hospitals in the Capital ensure that fire safety systems, equipment and physical infrastructure are checked and reviewed every three months.

The meeting was attended by 38 medical superintendents, chief engineer PWD, chief fire services, director health services and principal health secretary.

In the latest report (2011) from the fire department, Lok Nayak Hospital's newly commissioned orthopaedic block, GB Pant's emergency wing, GTB's 500-bedded ward and a new wing, comprising gynaecology and paediatrics wings, are functioning without the mandatory fire NOC.

Meanwhile, RC Deka, director of AIIMS, has also convened a meeting of his CPWD team and senior administrative staff after the fire services report showed that three wings of AIIMS — medical library, cardio-vascular and neuro-sciences centre — and four wings of Rajendra Prasad Centre of Ophthalmic Sciences were functioning without the necessary fire safety clearances.