Most hospitals, nursing homes and pathology centres in Agra will be in trouble in case of a fire outbreak. Only 8-10% of around 250 hospitals have functioning fire safety equipment installed at their premises, according to fire department officials.
Recently, the fire department informed the Agra Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in writing that during a surprise inspection, they found many hospitals and nursing homes to not have even a single fire safety equipment, while at others they were found defunct.
The department also said hospitals are mandated to receive training from them in firefighting. It further asked the CMO to ensure that licence of no hospital/nursing home should be renewed without getting a clearance from them. Agra Chief Fire Officer, Jasveer Singh stated other malfeasances too. He said many hospitals are operating from residential buildings. “Just a small number of hospitals are complying with the fire safety norms. It’s a major cause of concern.” When contacted, CMO B S Yadav said he had directed hospitals to acquire NOCs (no objection certificates) from the pollution and fire departments before applying for licence renewal.
