New Delhi: Several safety norms were blatantly disregarded at the Delhi hospital where a massive fire claimed the lives of six infants Saturday night, including a lack of emergency exits and fire extinguishers.
The Delhi Fire Services have now contacted the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to measure the height of the building housing the Baby Care New Born Hospital in Vivek Vihar, ThePrint has learned. The two-story building did not have a Fire No-Objection Certificate (NOC), mandatory for any structure over 9 metres. Additionally, all hospitals must be registered under the Delhi Nursing Home Registration Act, which also requires a fire NOC.
Delhi Fire Services Chief Atul Garg told ThePrint that while a two-story building ideally should be 9 metres or higher, many avoid this to evade necessary registrations.
“There is no record of the hospital even applying for a fire NOC,” Garg added.
The Delhi Police investigation into the fire has also revealed that the hospital’s licence, provided by the Directorate General of Health Services, had expired in March this year, according to DCP (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary. This licence was for only five beds, yet the hospital had admitted 12 newborns to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Furthermore, the hospital lacked fire safety measures, such as fire extinguishers and emergency exits.
The police have arrested the hospital’s owner, Dr Naveen Khichi, and booked him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including causing death by negligence and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government has ordered all state-run and private hospitals to complete a fire audit by 8 June and submit a compliance report.
ThePrint examines how fire clearances for hospitals are obtained and the controversy surrounding fire safety norms.
Operating with no NOC or licence
In general, the fire department must be notified before construction begins on any building. Upon completion, the department conducts an inspection to determine whether a fire NOC will be issued.
Hospitals, however, apply for an NOC through the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
“The DGHS forwards us the application and the fire department informs the government on whether any violations were found and if the NOC was given,” a senior fire official said. “In case of violations, the Delhi government can take action against the hospital or even shut it down.”
In the past, hospital licences have been cancelled by the Delhi government over violations of protocols, the official added.
A fire NOC is mandatory for obtaining or renewing (every three years) the operating licence of a hospital exceeding 9 metres in height.
Despite these regulations, many hospitals in the national capital operate without a fire NOC or registration with the Delhi government’s nursing home cell, as mandated by the Delhi Nursing Home Registration Act.
“Most smaller hospitals operate without a fire NOC, which is compulsory for a license. So, they then continue operating without the registration under the Delhi Nursing Home Act as well,” a senior Delhi government official said.
A tussle over rules
A debate surrounds fire safety norms in hospitals, including creating a 6-metre-wide access road for fire tenders, 2.4-metre-wide corridors, and 2-metre-wide staircases.
According to the Delhi Medical Association (DMA), these norms hinder the renewal of hospital licences, which expire every three years, and the matter has been in the Delhi High Court for the past year and a half.
“The Delhi government requires the fire NOC for registration of nursing homes and hospitals. There are hospitals operating in residential areas, on small plots, and old nursing homes that can’t comply with these institutional norms,” said a senior official.
A few years ago, a committee led by then Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain drafted fire safety norms for “mixed-use” hospitals, which operate out of residential areas, as permitted by the 2007 Delhi Master Plan.
This draft proposed changes in the existing norms, including removing the staircase protocol. However, they were discarded after the Supreme Court mandated fire safety audits during the COVID wave.
The DMA then went to court, seeking changes to the guidelines for hospitals on mixed-use land.
“We have to reach a middle ground on this,” said a member of the DMA.
Following the deaths of 19 people in a Karol Bagh fire in February 2019, the Delhi fire safety norms mandated a fire NOC and compliance for all buildings above 9 metres. Previously, the requirement only applied to industrial and commercial buildings reaching 15 metres or more.
However, senior DFS officials clarified that hospitals have always required fire clearance. They are classified as institutional buildings and considered high-risk occupancies in case of a fire.
“The matter in court is different and is over the stairs and corridors. Fire safety protocols like the presence of extinguishers etc are mandatory. An NOC for hospitals above 9 metres has always been compulsory,” Garg said.
Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said Monday that fire-safety equipment would be made compulsory in every hospital, irrespective of its size.
“Earlier, NOC related to fire safety was not required for nursing homes that 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 (must have) fire safety equipment will be necessary. There should be a water-sprinkling system and automatic smoke detection,” he told mediapersons.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
Also Read: Lapsed licence, no fire exit & oxygen refilling — why Delhi hospital fire was disaster-in-waiting