ONGOLE: During special drives, the Fire Services Department has found that around 60% of hospitals and 30% of industries do not have the mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC). The drives covered all the 15 notified Covid-19 hospitals, including four government hospitals. It was also found that the fire fighting equipment in the hospitals is not being maintained on sound lines.
“Ongole GGH has all the fire fighting equipment, but its maintenance is not up to the mark. In other notified Covid-19 hospitals, the fire fighting equipment is not installed as per norms,” District Fire Officer S Srinivasa Rao, told TNIE.As these hospitals are on spacious premises and the operational area is on ground floor, they pose less hazard compared to the hospitals located in multi-storey buildings.
The department has issued notices to all these hospitals and industries, which have not obtained the mandatory NOC, besides submitting a report to the higher ups, he said.
The department had also conducted two special drives recently to check the disaster management and fire safety. A total of 243 hospitals and 270 small and big industrial units that come under Red and Orange categories, are located in the district. On Wednesday, teams led by the DFO inspected the government hospitals in Chimakurthy, Podili and Kanigiri.
After checking the fire fighting equipment, an awareness programme on fire safety was also conducted for the hospital staff to prevent mishaps. “For the last three months, we are inspecting government and private hospitals in the district. An audit of fire safety is conducted in all the hospitals. The managements have been asked to rectify lapses in fire safety to avert any mishaps,” the DFO said.