Bhopal Hospital Fire: 3 top medical officials removed from post

Written by Sanchari Chattopadhyay Published On 2021-11-11T09:30:00+05:30 | Updated On 11 Nov 2021 6:04 PM IST

Bhopal Hospital Fire: 3 top medical officials removed from post

Bhopal: Days after fire broke out at the ICU of Bhopal Hospital claiming lives of four infants, the Madhya Pradesh Government on Wednesday removed three hospital officials from their posts including the Director of Kamla Nehru Hospital.

ANI reports that the Dean of Gandhi Medical College Dr Jitendra Shukla, Hamidia Hospital Superintendent Dr Lokendra Dave and Kamla Nehru Hospital Director Dr KK Dubey were removed, while the state government also suspended Sub Engineer of Capital Project Administration (CPA) (Electricity wing) Awdhesh Bhadauria in wake of the incident.

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that the fire broke out at the government-run Kamala Nehru Hospital at around 8.35 pm on Monday in the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of the medical facility, situated on the campus of the Gandhi Medical College and Hamidia Hospital, which has the Upper Lake located on one side and the state chief minister's official residence on the other side.

Soon after the blaze, thick smoke engulfed the ward and it was pitch dark inside. Doctors and nurses tried to shift the newborns to other wards. They managed to shift all the 40 children out but were unable to save the lives of four of them who were already in serious condition.

State Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang stated that four children died in the fire that broke out probably due to a short circuit. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each for the family members of the victims, he had added.

Also Read: Fire breaks out at Bhopal Govt hospital, 4 infants dead

After the incident, Madhya Pradesh Medical Education Department on Tuesday issued fire safety guidelines for the hospitals. Further, officials had also told The Indian Express that Kamla Nehru Hospital had not procured, or even applied for, a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Fire Department since it began operations back in 2002.

Bhopal Municipal Commissioner K V S Choudhary and Fire Officer Rameshwar Neel confirmed to The Indian Express that the hospital authorities did not apply for a fire NOC. Fire Officer Rameshwar Neel told The Indian Express, "Whatever little fire-fighting equipment was present in the building was dysfunctional…the hospital had not applied for any fire NOC."

A high-level enquiry into the incident has been ordered by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

"A high-level inquiry has been ordered into the incident. The investigation will be done by ACS Public Health and Medical Education Mohammad Suleman," he added.

In order to prevent any such incident in the future, Madhya Pradesh Medical Education Department has also issued fire safety guidelines for hospitals. As per the guidelines issued by the department, fire extinguishers, first aid hose reel, manually operated fire alarm systems, underground static water storage tank, sprinklers per set of systems, etc, should be available in the hospitals.

Fire and electric safety audit should be there every two years. Mock drills should be held every six months for the hospital staff," the statement added.

The Hamidia Hospital and Kamla Nehru Hospital are situated on the campus of Gandhi Medical College. The CPA was assigned the responsibility of maintenance work in the hospital, and it has been transferred to state PWD, reports ANI.

Kamla Nehru HospitalMP governmenthospital firefire safety guidelinesMadhya Pradesh Governmentmp govtinfant deathexgratiaShivraj Singh Chouhanbhopal hospitalfirebhopal

Source : with agency inputs

Sanchari Chattopadhyay

Sanchari Chattopadhyay has pursued her M.A in English and Culture Studies from the University of Burdwan, West Bengal. She likes observing cultural specificities and exploring new places.