‘COVID jumbo care centres, private hospitals a fire trap’: Official

The makeshift jumbo care centres and private hospitals roped in by the BMC for COVID19 treatments in the city are possible ldquofire trapsrdquo MV Deshmukh former director Maharashtra Fire Services and advisor to the state of Maharashtra told middayThe senior fire officialrsquos warning comes two days after the fire at Sunrise Hospital located inside Dreams Mall in Bhandup Investigations revealed that no fire compliance and firefighting equipment were in place at the mall and the exit routes too were encroached in the ground plus threestorey mall killing 11 people on Thursday nightldquoThe jumbo centres and private hospitals are nothing but fire trapsmdashright from bedsheets to mattresses electrical wirings air conditioners and ICU setup everything poses a risk What is worrisome is that these centres have got large quantities of hand sanitisers with 60 to 80 per cent alcohol base making them highly inflammable The PPE kits worn by the paramedical staff and doctors are not fireresistant eitherrdquo said DeshmukhEven the pandals of these makeshift centres are not made of fireretardant materials According to Deshmukh post the Dabwali Fire Accident on December 23 1995 which claimed hundreds of lives in Sirsa district of Haryana the Bureau of Indian Standards had listed a host of measures to be undertaken at temporary makeshift pandals It was after this incident that the Government of India made it mandatory to use fireretardant materials to setup temporary pandals he said ldquoYet this has not been implementedrdquoSince most of these patients are bedridden or on ventilator support it may not be possible for them to evacuate in case of an emergency he said ldquoIt is high time that the administration takes serious cognisance of thisrdquo he addedAccording to him the National Building Code of 2005 and 2016 clearly stated that malls cannot be used for setting up any temporary or permanent hospitals or nursing homes ldquoIn Sunrise Hospitalrsquos case this is a clear violation But the civic authorities claim that under the Development Control Regulation 2034 hospitals can be opened in any mix occupancy malls which itself is absurdrdquo Deshmukh saidAnother retired fire officer said that the local fire brigade should not have allowed Sunrise Hospital to continue operations as the mall was defunct and most of its firefighting systems were not in working condition ldquoWe must understand that a mall cannot be converted into a hospital Hospital beds are larger than normal beds and require more space for movement The elevators need to be designed for carrying patients not visitorsrdquoLast October two patients lost their lives in a hospital fire in Mulund In January this year 10 newborn infants choked to death after a fire broke out at District General Hospital Bhandara Incidentally in all cases a fire audit had been announced as an administrative arrangement ldquoSince public memory is short followups and lsquoaction taken reportsrsquo went for a toss In the Bhandup case too while the civic chief has appointed a former fire chief to conduct an inquiry and fix the responsibility this too will be forgotten soonrdquo An amendment for the statutory fire audit was moved in 2015 which it is yet to see the light of day he added