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Pune hospitals playing with fire, claims civic commissioner

Pathak says they are being run by God's grace; 79 nursing homes are flouting safety norms; 60 have not done fire audit, some have illegal constructions

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Taking a tough stand against hospitals that are not following safety norms, Pune municipal commissioner Mahesh Pathak on Friday said, “We have a list of 79 such hospitals and these hospitals are running only by God’s grace.” He also said that the municipal body cannot afford to ignore these hospitals as the matter is directly related to patients’ lives.

The issue of providing No-Objection Certificates (NOC) to such hospitals was discussed at the general body meeting on Friday. During the discussion, some corporators demanded that the civic administration take a sympathetic view towards these hospitals as many patients are being treated there, However, Pathak maintained his stand and said they cannot take any chances when it comes to the safety of patients.

Pathak said, “We have a list of 79 hospitals that are registered with us for collection of bio-medical waste and therefore we could manage to get information of these hospitals. Nearly 60 out of 79 hospitals have not even taken fire NOC from the PMC.”

“There are three hospitals on the list where the entire building is unauthorised. There are 39 hospitals that do not have a second staircase, which is mandatory. If there is a fire in these hospitals, there will not be any alternative route to evacuate patients,” Pathak said.

The corporators were demanding that the civic administration come up with an alternative so that these hospitals will not have to shut down and patients do not face inconvenience. Replying to the corporators’ demand, Pathak said, “These 39 hospitals can install external staircases or external lifts and we can give some relaxation of rules. Similarly, we can give relaxation to some hospitals if they complete safety norms.”

PMC insisted on fire NOCs in 2011

In the wake of the AMRI Hospital fire tragedy in Kolkata in December 2011, the PMC health department had decided to initiate fire safety audits of all hospitals and nursing homes in the city. There are 583 registered nursing homes and at least 150 unregistered ones. PMC’s acting chief medical officer, Dr ST Pardeshi, had said a circular was being sent to fire officials and ward officials to conduct fire safety audits of all hospitals and nursing homes. Licensing rules of the PMC’s health department for nursing homes require only details of staff and ownership, apart from NOC from the building permission department.

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