Prosecution orders to 23 hospitals

Violation of safety measures

Telangana State Disaster Response & Fire Services Department revealed on Saturday that it had issued prosecution orders to 23 hospitals for violation of fire safety measures in the twin cities and rest of the State.

Regional Fire Officer - Central Zone V.Papaiah said the prosecution proceedings were issued to 18 of them and five of them were found to be ‘repeat offenders’ as was noticed during surprise inspections in recent times. The information comes in the wake of the latest fire in COVID hospital at Virar in Maharastra where 15 persons were killed.

The TS High Court also imposed penalty on four of these hospitals indicating the dangerous tinder box conditions prevailing in these healthcare centres which are seeing huge rush due to the second wave of the pandemic. The officer stated that 19 cases for violation of fire safety norms are under trail, a press release said.

The Telangana Fire Service Act, 1999 clearly states that hospitals located in buildings of 15 metres and above in height have to obtain a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC), by following heights and setbacks as per the local building by-laws and provision of fire prevention and safety measures as stipulated in National Building Code - 2016.

The department had issued 112 NOCs to the hospitals and claims to have been conducting regular inspections of COVID hospitals and quarantine centres. “We are conducting awareness campaign and mock drill for every six months and also random surprise inspections verify the functionality of available fire fighting equipment,” he said.

Few days ago, all the hospital managements and the security personnel have been sensitized on the fire safety measures through a workshop where posters, stickers and pamphlets were also distributed. Fire vehicles have been deployed at Gandhi Hospital and TIMS (Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences, Gachibowli) to attend any fire/emergency call.

“While we are closely monitoring the fire safety measures of every COVID hospital and quarantine centre, we are requesting the hospital managements to ensure electrical safety and fire safety by keeping available fire equipment on working condition, training staff on emergency evacuation procedure and first aid,” said Mr. Papaiah.

The department or the local fire officer is ready to provide any support or assistance. The RFO appealed to public to call ‘101’ or 9949991101 for immediate response in case of any fire.