Scrutiny
By Venkatesh Raghavan
Mumbai: Even as the ground realities about the fire safety norms adhered to in Maharashtra are coming under the scanner of the administration, there seem to be moves afoot to make political capital of the deaths of ten newborns in the fire at the state-run Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of Bhandara District General Hospital in the early hours of Saturday, 9 January.
While Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray spoke about a thorough audit that should be conducted in all the hospitals across Maharashtra state, opposition leader, Devendra Fadnavis called it a “shameful incident” for a progressive state like Maharashtra.
Soon after the fire broke out killing 10 newborns in the Bhandara hospital, the inquiry team instituted by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has swung into action into examining whether it was an accident or case of non-compliance with safety norms that were prescribed recently by the state government.
Currently, statements were also made about the safety norm proposal submitted to the Maharashtra Government in previous May. Fadnavis expressed the sentiment that had this proposal been implemented according to the rule book, this tragedy could have been averted. Meanwhile, Uddhav met with the kin of the deceased infants saying, “I could not find words enough to console them.”
Intelligence inputs when contacted stressed that the standard operating procedure (SOP) was being strictly adhered to at least in all the city hospitals in Mumbai. However, such claims lack credibility as it may be recalled that a fire broke out at the ESIC Kamgar hospital in Mumbai in late 2018. It was deemed to be a consequence of “lax fire safety measures” .
There is also a move afoot by the Chief Minister to rope in a former Mumbai Fire Safety chief to make a thorough study and recommend measures to avoid such incidents in the future. Uddhav was also prompt on heaping praise on the security officers who were present on the spot for rescuing 7 babies from the fire which broke out at around 1.30 am, risking their own lives. The infant section of the hospital is meant to receive babies who need special attention and is located towards the outer boundaries of the building premises.
At the time of going to press, the inquiry process was still on and a full-fledged audit of the fire safety norms that were adopted by the hospital was well underway. Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief and shock and also released a compensatory package for the kin of the infants who got killed in the fire.
The fire broke out in the hospital early on the night of Saturday last and the casualties were restricted to 10 babies owing to the alert security personnel being able to rescue seven other babies in the building precincts. The authorities probing the incident, have earlier this week attributed the probable cause to be the explosion of one of the several radiant warmers present for the purpose of assisting the Sick New-born Care Unit (SNCU). According to the inquiry report, the radiant warmer burst into flames soon after the security guards heard the loud explosion. One of the babies that were found lying on the roadside were brought by the police to the hospital much earlier to this incident. The baby’s body was found completely charred soon after the incident.
