India News | Almost Half of Noida's Hospitals, Including Key Govt Facilities, Have Fire Safety Lapses
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Almost half of the hospitals across Noida and Greater Noida with more than five-bed capacity are functioning in violation of fire safety norms, the Gautam Buddh Nagar fire department has found.
Noida, Mar 30 (PTI) Almost half of the hospitals across Noida and Greater Noida with more than five-bed capacity are functioning in violation of fire safety norms, the Gautam Buddh Nagar fire department has found.
The fire department also recommended electrical audits of the hospitals to reduce the risk of blazes, underlining that around 80 per cent of incidents occur due to electrical issues in buildings.
Along with these hospitals, several private units function in rural areas and a district hospital and Child PGI in Noida. Some small units are being run without a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the department, a senior official said.
"The department has issued notices to 85 out of the 170 hospitals that have capacity of more than five beds over the fire safety violations that were found during the inspections, starting March 11," Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Pradeep Kumar Choubey said.
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Some three-four hospitals remain to be inspected, he added.
CFO said during inspections many hospitals were found to have minor lapses which could be a fire hazard. Like, several of these buildings have either blocked, placed temporary structures like flower pots or chained their emergency staircases and exit doors for "security" reasons.
"Such conditions make it difficult for people to evacuate a building in case of any emergency," Choubey said, adding that these passages need to be kept smooth and swift for emergency usage.
He said initially 108 hospitals had failed to meet fire safety guidelines. However, several of those flaws were rectified soon after, thereby, bringing the total number of facilities to be issued notices to 85.
"Hospitals must focus on audits of their electric supply systems and load capacity of wires. Eighty per cent of the fire incidents are triggered due to electric short circuits. Electrical audits bring down the risk of fire," the chief fire officer told PTI.
A senior health department official said notices have been sent to all hospitals that have been found flouting fire safety norms and they have been given a month to rectify the errors.
"A committee would also be formed under the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010 to review their status once again and take action accordingly," the official added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)