New Delhi: Two months after eight newborns died in a massive fire at a neonatal care unit in Delhi’s Vivek Vihar, the Delhi Police have filed a chargesheet listing the owner of the hospital and the doctor on duty as accused, ThePrint has learnt.
The chargesheet, filed in the Karkardooma court, has pointed out several violations including lack of fire safety equipment, inadequate space to operate a 12-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), underqualified doctors heading the unit, absence of qualified nurses and hazardous storage of oxygen cylinders.
The investigators have relied on the statements of 81 witnesses and flagged as many as eight violations of statutory requirements to seek prosecution of Dr Naveen Khichi and his associate Dr Akash, who was the doctor on duty.
ThePrint had on 26 May reported how a massive fire engulfed the Baby Care New Born Hospital located on the first floor of a building in Vivek Vihar.
Sources in the Delhi Police said Dr Khichi and Dr Akash have been charged under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code and section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
“We have sufficient evidence against accused Dr Naveen Khichi and Dr Akash, who knowingly operated the NICU with beds beyond permissible limits, without qualified RMO and nurses, without fire safety devices and not acting swiftly in the event of fire,” a source in the Delhi Police told ThePrint.
Additionally, investigators have, it is learnt, cited the statements of two eyewitnesses, who had made calls to the Delhi Police Control Room alleging that Dr Akash did not inform the police, delaying authorities’ response to the fire.
Also Read: No NOC, no licence — Vivek Vihar blaze exposes lax fire safety in ‘most smaller Delhi hospitals’
Violations cited in chargesheet
In the 796-page chargesheet, investigators have highlighted lack of fire safety measures and inadequate space to operate a 12-bed NICU, it is learnt.
They have also pointed out that doctors holding Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) were deployed as heads of the unit, while the norms clearly mention that the Resident Medical Officer (RMO) must have a postgraduate degree in intensive care or neonatal intensive care.
The chargesheet also mentions the absence of qualified nurses at the NICU, as well as the setting up of 12 NICU beds when permission granted by the Directorate General of Health Services, which had expired in March, had allowed only five beds. This permission too was in violation of norms because accused Dr Khichi had a similar case pending against him, it notes.
Investigators have claimed that the structure of the hospital was flawed. Moreover, they have flagged violations in the storage, handling and maintenance of oxygen cylinders. Those living near the hospital had told ThePrint they had feared such an incident due to the refilling of oxygen cylinders on the ground floor of the hospital.
“Oxygen cylinders were stored beyond permissible limits and the same were also stored in hazardous manner, which resulted in explosion of the cylinders,” a police officer involved in the investigation said.
“A report prepared by experts from the forensic department, Delhi Fire Services and municipal corporation along with an electrical inspector have been placed on record,” another police source said.
Investigators further said that there was an abundance of inflammable materials such bundles of old papers, wooden debris, stored in the scorching heat of May, which aggravated the intensity of the NICU fire. What made matters worse, they added, was that there was absolutely no fire safety equipment installed in the hospital.
Three days after the fire, Delhi Lieutenant-Governor V. K. Saxena had ordered a large-scale inspection of the Vivek Vihar NICU by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
ThePrint had earlier reported that in its inspections of 65 such nursing homes, the Delhi ACB found 34 private nursing homes operating without a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department, while 21 had expanded bed capacity without approval of the authority. Additionally, 17 nursing homes lacked valid licences from the government.
On the violations by the Vivek Vihar hospital management, the Delhi ACB had found and documented that the nursing home had no fire extinguishers or emergency exits while it had 32 oxygen cylinders on the ground floor of the building in violation of rules.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)