An inspection audit conducted by the Fire and Emergency Services Department of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has unveiled a dire situation regarding fire safety standards in hospitals across Nagpur. Shockingly, less than 50% of the surveyed hospitals were found to be adhering to basic fire safety norms, posing significant risks to public safety.
In response to the alarming findings, the Fire and Emergency Services Department has taken stringent actions to prioritise enforcement. Concerned government departments, including OCW and MSEDCL, have been directed to disconnect water and power supply to 41 unsafe buildings under Section C of the Act. Additionally, criminal cases have been filed against four hospitals under Section 36 of the Act, with instructions given to the police department to initiate necessary legal proceedings.
The majority of violations identified during the audit were related to inadequate fire safety infrastructure, notably the absence of sufficient emergency exits and blatant disregard for sanctioned building plans. Furthermore, numerous private hospitals have been found operating from residential premises, exacerbating safety concerns. These establishments not only lack proper emergency exits but also misuse parking areas, further compromising safety measures.
On April 1, the NMC’s Dharampeth Zone issued a show-cause notice to a private hospital in Dhantoli for unauthorised construction of its radiology section and ordered its demolition. This action follows a previous notice to the same hospital, directing the demolition of 663.188 sqm of illegal construction. Notably, in 2022, the Dharampeth Zone sealed a multi-storey building on West High Court Road due to the absence of firefighting equipment, underscoring the persistent nature of compliance issues.
The findings of the fire safety audit underscore the urgent need for hospitals in Nagpur to prioritise compliance with fire safety regulations to safeguard the lives of patients, staff, and visitors. According to the report, if the recent fire at Suretech Hospital in Dhantoli didn’t ring any alarm bells, consider this: An inspection audit by the NMC’s Fire and Emergency Services Department found that only 130 of the city’s nearly 450 hospitals comply with the mandatory fire-safety norms.
The audit revealed that a significant number of both government and private hospitals failed to comply with the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006.
The report mentioned that though the hospital had firefighting apparatus, the illegal construction posed a threat to the patients’ lives. In the audit, the department marked 122 hospitals as unsafe over inadequate fire safety measures and 186 hospitals (both govt and private) were found falling short of the firefighting arrangements standards as mandated under the 2006 Act.
