Vijayawada: Hospitals under lens post-tragedy

Vijayawada: In the wake of Swarna Hotel palace tragedy which claimed 10 lives on August 9 in Vijayawada, the State Disaster Response and Fire Services (SDRFS) department officials are regularly visiting the hospitals and inspecting the fire safety measures being taken by the hospital managements to check the fire accidents.

The SDRFS department officials after the inspection of hospitals are issuing No Objection Certificate (NOCs) to the respective hospitals.

So far, the department issued NOCs to 87 hospitals in Vijayawada, Gudivada, Machilipatnam, Nuzvid, Mylavaram, Turuvuru, Nandigama, Kondapalli, Pamarru and other parts of the district.

It is estimated that more than 300 hospitals functioning in and around Vijayawada city and about 200 hospitals are in other parts of the district.

The SDRFS department officials are inspecting the fire extinguishers, water storage facilities, setbacks in the buildings, exit routes to escape for the trapped victims and fire safety norms as per the National Building Code.

Tragic death of 10 Covid patients in Swarna Palace hotel-turned Covid centre had sent shockwaves across the state.

The officials could not assess the exact reason for the mishap. Keeping in view the disaster , the fire services department officials are inspecting the hospitals and verifying whether they were taking precautions to check fire accidents.

District fire officer M Srinivasa Reddy said the department officials were conducting inspections of the hospitals and asking the hospital managements to follow the fire safety norms as per the National Building Code (NBC).

He said the department would issue notices to the hospital managements if they don't follow the fire safety rules and would even move the court, if necessary against the violations.

Srinivasa Reddy appealed to the hospitals to follow the National Building Code norms and take fool-proof measures to prevent fire accidents.