Jhansi: The Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi, where a blaze in the special newborn care unit (SNCU) claimed the lives of 10 newborns on 15 November, was denied a No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the fire department in February, it is learnt.
A UP government official told ThePrint that the medical college did not have an NOC from the fire department at the time of the incident. “The medical college authorities were asked to show the No Objection Certificate that the fire department gives after being satisfied that the building complies with all norms of fire safety. They were unable to produce it.”
Fire department officials privy to the developments said it is unclear if the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi was ever granted an NOC in the past, but confirmed that it was denied an NOC in the most recent fire audit conducted in February this year.
Renewal of fire NOC implies that the facility in question is complying with the latest fire safety norms but if it is not renewed, the NOC, if granted in the past, stands null and void.
In this case, denial of NOC was on account of absence of necessary firefighting equipment in the facility including hose reels and fire extinguishers without refill. Asked to comment, the principal said the state government sanctioned Rs 12 crore to that effect in June, which was used to purchase new and refurbish existing firefighting equipment.
Meanwhile, three more newborns who had been rescued by attendants and hospital staffers have subsequently died taking the total toll of deaths in connection with the incident to 13. The medical college administration claims the newborns died due to ailments they were being treated for even as parents suspect the fire could have exacerbated their condition.
The tragedy is being probed by a four-member panel formed by the UP government.
Headed by IAS officer Kinjal Singh, director general of UP’s Directorate of Medical Education and Training, the panel also includes D-G of the state’s Directorate of Medical and Health Services, additional director, electricity (directorate of medical and health services), and an official nominated by the D-G of the UP Fire Service. The panel has been inspecting the medical college since Monday and is expected to submit its report in seven days.
Another senior state government official confirmed that the fire department conducted an audit at the medical college in February, and found firefighting equipment including hose reels missing, fire extinguishers without refills and parts of the fire control system non-operational. “The medical college was asked to fix the lapses and purchase the equipment that was lacking. It subsequently wrote to the health department in Lucknow seeking funds.”
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Anurag Sharma, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Jhansi, said Tuesday that the special newborn care unit (SNCU) at the medical college—operational since 2005—was set up at the “wrong place”.
“It did not have fire exits … The government is very serious about this and questioning is being done seriously,” he said.
Sharma added that at the time of the incident, the SNCU had “more babies than its capacity because there was no space elsewhere”. Had their parents not brought them to the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College the newborns “would have died anyway”, he said.
Asked why lapses found in the fire audit in February were not dealt with even 11 months later, Sharma said the question will be answered once the four-member panel submits its report to the state government. “Upgradation keeps happening … There were not many lapses from the point of view of fire in that particular room [SNCU],” he said.
The legislator also said it was found that, to some extent, the unit had been running on “jugaad” (makeshift solution).
ThePrint reported earlier how family members who rushed inside to save the newborns said the SNCU’s inner ward had only one exit, and that one of the two exits of the outer section was closed. They also claimed medical college staff present there at the time were not trained in the use of fire extinguishers and the fire alarm, too, was not working.
On Monday, IAS officer Kinjal Singh responded to a question by ThePrint in this regard, saying staff claimed the fire alarms did ring and that is how junior doctors and others from another ward rushed to the SNCU. Asked about the issue of fire exits in the inner unit of the SNCU, Singh admitted the inner unit had a single exit and the outer unit two.
“We are going to mark the fire exits in the SNCU on a map tomorrow,” she said.
Singh, however, also stated that the window family members had to break during the rescue operation was part of an “emergency exit”.
At the same time, the IAS officer refused to comment on reports that the wiring in the SNCU was worn out. “Officials of the electricity department are accompanying us. They have taken all the documents and they will submit a whole report on this,” Singh said.
Asked if the government would issue orders for a fresh fire audit of hospitals across the state in light of the incident, she said orders to that effect were issued in June and August.
“The big takeaway from this incident is that we should conduct fire audits more seriously and more frequently. It’s not only about the audit but also we will now seek an action-taken report from officers on the audit because, at times, small lapses are pointed out during the audit but remain unaddressed and later turn into big lapses,” she said.
Dr Narendra Singh Sengar, principal of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, told ThePrint that the government sanctioned Rs 12 crore in June, which was then utilised to procure some firefighting equipment the facility was lacking and to carry out some repair work.
“Using that amount, we carried out repair work, purchased hose reels and got the fire extinguishers refilled in July,” he said. Adding, “Major issues, those of immediate concern, were taken up. Some of the fire control systems had been broken and some were stolen. Now, you will find five buckets of sand placed in every ward to be used in case of a fire.”
Sengar said the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) is overseeing internal wiring and other electrical work at the medical college in Jhansi which requires more time, adding that he hopes the electrical work will be completed in another six months.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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