Fire safety in private hospitals and other establishments functioning from high-rise buildings in the town has come under spotlight in the wake of Monday’s fire accident in a private hospital in Warangal, the district headquarters town of Warangal urban district, that left two patients dead and several others injured.
Lack of proper training for handling the fire safety equipment, regular inspection of the fire safety apparatus, among other deficiencies, continue to plague the fire safety systems in various private hospitals in the town known as a major medical hub.
A majority of the private hospitals in the town are functioning from the buildings less than 15 metres height and as such they do not require a no-objection certificate from the Fire Services Department as per the Section 13 of the Fire Act of 1999, sources said.
However, quite a few number of private nursing homes are situated in high-rise buildings of more than 15 metres height.
The managements of some of these hospitals had earlier applied for Building Regularisation (BRS) and Layout Regularisation (LRS) schemes, and these applications are in various stages of processing, sources added.
The shortage of staff in the government departments concerned has become a major impediment in closely monitoring the implementation of fire safety measures in hospitals high-rise buildings and some educational institutions.
Sources in the Fire Services department said that a total of 39 cases of violation of fire safety norms were registered during random inspection of the hospitals and commercial establishments in the town so far this year.
As many as 28 recently recruited personnel of the Fire Services Department are set to join duty in the district in a day or two. This is expected to enhance monitoring of strict implementation of the fire safety norms by all concerned, official sources said.
