Nagpur: The Bhandara District General Hospital fire last month has moved medical colleges and hospitals under public health department into taking quick measures to make their premises safer and well-quipped. However, the road to safety looks distant.
Recently, the public works department (PWD) electrical department and Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s fire services personnel conducted an inspection at Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH). Similar excercises by PWD and other agencies are underway not just at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), and other government hospitals not just in Nagpur but also at Wardha, Gondia, Bhandara, Chandrapur and Gadichorli.
The IGGMCH has been given a long list of proposed compliance measures which it has forwarded to Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER). There is no time frame as to when the DMER would approve and subsequently authorize the NMC vendor. Once the vendor gets a go ahead it will survey and issue a Certificate ‘A’ for starting the works.
Officials said the proposal may again have to be revised in case the NMC vendor recommends any changes/additions. This will be later followed by tendering and award of contract. This indicate the medical colleges and hospitals are not going to be safe any sooner.
Officials said the PWD and authorized agencies are inspecting each department and those building set up before 2015. It is assumed that those constructed after this period are fire complaint. However, contrary to the belief, the NMC has found gaps in the IGGMCH’s Surgical Complex. Officials said those were not major but the deficiencies would soon be removed. Yet, the IGGMCH would need to upgrade 32 structures where several specialized health facilities like ICU, NICU, medicine department are running and have heavy electrical instruments.
Both the GMCs have over a 1000 patients and at least 200 staffers at a time working in different buildings.
TOI spoke to two activist regarding the long drawn process in making the facilities fire compliant.
Activist Ankita Shah said the delay means all these people visiting or using these hospitals premises would remain under constant threat till the deficiencies are not removed. “Like the Covid times, the government must treat these lapses as emergency and expedite the process to equip them as early as possible. Also, fire incidents at hospitals must be treated as criminal cases and registered under provisions of IPC,” said Shah, who is also a lawyer.
Activist TH Naidu said Fire Act 2006 mandates the chief fire officer as full time incharge of all fire related issues. “Yet, they have to work under certain authorities and are not fully independent. They become helpless in taking action. Their orders are not taken seriously. The agencies appointed to issue A and B certificate also don’t cooperate. If the CFO starts excecise all powers vested in him as per the Act, things can move at a faster pace,” he said.
The process
PWD electrical department and fire agencies inspect govt hospitals
Medical colleges foward recommendations and agency name to DMER, others are sent to department of health
Locally authorized agencies need to survey and issue certificate A for commencing work
Proposal is prepared and forwarded to respective higher authorities for approval
Funds are released after approval. this is followed by tendering and award of contract
Later, the agencies issue Certificate B based on which fire NOC is given
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