Fire safety lapses put patients at risk in Indore:No basic measures in government’s PC Sethi and 11 major hospitals

The lives of patients admitted to 12 major hospitals in Indore are at risk because they don’t even have basic fire safety arrangements. This includes the government PC Sethi Hospital. This was revealed through an RTI. It should be noted that recently 8 people died after being burned alive in a major fire incident in Indore. Even after this, the city’s authorities are not waking up. Actually, a prominent advocate named Shastri had sought information about fire NOCs of hospitals with more than 100 bed capacity. In response, it was found that some hospitals had not even completed their fire safety system, while some had not renewed their NOC for years. Mayor says – It’s Health Department’s responsibility Regarding the RTI disclosure, Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav has placed the responsibility for this entire matter on the Health Department and CMHO. He says that the responsibility for monitoring and taking action against hospitals lies with the Health Department. Meanwhile, CMHO Dr. Madhav Hasani says that PC Sethi Hospital will not get fire NOC until the encroachment there is removed. The government has not yet been able to resolve the encroachment removal issue. Due to encroachment, PC Sethi has been facing fire NOC issues since 2018. Correspondence has been done at the departmental level regarding this matter. Action will soon be taken against 11 other hospitals. Has also informed Collector-CMHO RTI activist Advocate Charchit Shastri says that hospitals where hundreds of patients are admitted don’t even have basic fire safety arrangements, meaning if a fire breaks out, patients will have no way to escape. Charchit said – he has complained about this entire matter to the Collector and CMHO, but no action has been taken so far. Hospitals and Commercial Buildings Unsafe Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee state spokesperson Amit Chaurasia said that in August 2024, the Indore Collector had directed commercial building operators to complete all fire safety arrangements within one month. A warning was given that buildings would be sealed if rules were not followed. Despite this, till today neither has a complete investigation been done, nor have the rules been enforced. Recently revealed RTI information has raised questions about the administration’s working methods. Then Collector Ashish Singh had given directions Two years ago, then Collector of Indore Ashish Singh had given directions to CMHO and Dean, MGM Medical College to monitor safety in private nursing homes and hospitals. According to the directions, nursing homes and hospitals must have fire safety certificates issued by the Urban Development and Housing Department and electrical safety certificates. All nursing homes, hospitals and medical colleges were asked to submit audit reports. At that time, all nursing homes and hospitals were instructed to fulfill this arrangement at any cost, but as soon as Singh left Indore, the entire matter went cold. Major Fire Incidents in MP Hospitals