New Delhi: Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said Monday that fire-safety equipment would be made compulsory in every hospital irrespective of its size.
Bhardwaj added that the baby care hospital in Vivek Vihar, where seven newborns died in a horrific fire incident on Saturday, did not have the no-objection certificate (NOC) related to fire safety.
Saurabh Bhardwaj told the media on Monday: “Earlier, NOC related to fire safety was not required for nursing homes which were restricted to the ground or first floors. That’s why this hospital did not have NOC. But now we have decided that every hospital… be it ground or the first floor or even above it… fire safety equipment will be necessary. There should be a water-sprinkling system and automatic smoke detection.”
He further said the hospital had permission for up to five beds but they installed more than 10.
“They had applied for licence renewal too but a memo was issued to them as they lacked documents,” Bhardwaj said.
The health minister further said directions were issued in April to all hospitals to ensure that a fire audit be done and a compliance report be filed by 8 June.
The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the Vivek Vihar New Born Baby Care Hospital fire incident.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has pointed to major lapses that led to the deaths on Saturday night.
The police said the licence on which the hospital was operating was no longer valid and there was no emergency exit in the hospital premises. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shahdara, Surendra Chaudhary said the hospital had permission for up to five beds but they installed more than 10 beds.
“We came to know that the NOC of the hospital had also expired on 31 March. They did not have a fire exit system either. In view of all this, we have added Sections 304 and 308 of IPC in the FIR and we have arrested its director and owner, Dr Naveen Kichi. One of the doctors who was on duty, Dr Akash, has also been arrested. The accused have 3 such clinics in Delhi,” the police official told ANI.
Police investigation further revealed that some of the doctors in the hospital were not qualified to treat a newborn child in need of neonatal intensive care, as they were BAMS degree holders only.
The report added that the bodies of the seven dead babies, of which four were male and three female, were taken to the GTB Hospital for postmortem. A total of 16 fire tenders were used to douse the fire.
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