Andhra Pradesh Collectors seek reports on fire safety in COVID-19 care centres to avert mishaps

Krishna Collector A Md Imtiaz directed the officials to inspect the fire safety in Covid hospitals and care centres in the district.
Fire broke out at Swarna Palace where a private hospital took it for treating covid patients in Vijayawada on Sunday. (Photo | Prasant Madugula, EPS)
Fire broke out at Swarna Palace where a private hospital took it for treating covid patients in Vijayawada on Sunday. (Photo | Prasant Madugula, EPS)

KURNOOL: The fire mishap at a Covid care centre in Swarna Palace that claimed 10 lives, has posed a big question -- How safe are Covid hospitals and care centres in the State? Do all the hospitals and care centres possess No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the Fire Services Department?

Review of the situation at the district-level after the mishap, brought to the fore several lapses.  In Kurnool, the Government General Hospital, a State-level Covid hospital, has not obtained NOC from the fire department.

Barring 3-4 hospitals out of the total 14, including three government hospitals, the rest have no NOCs, though several of them have installed fire safety equipment.

District Collector G Veerapandian directed the fire department to submit a detailed report after conducting an inquiry into fire safety in all private and government hospitals in Kurnool.Speaking to TNIE, DFO V Srinivas Reddy said they have started an inquiry into fire safety violations in Covid hospitals. He, however, said as per primary knowledge, except Gowri Gopal, KIMS and Medicover, all hospitals, including Kurnool GGH and other government and private hospitals, do not have NOCs.

In Prakasam, the fire department inspected eight Covid care centres out of the total 13 and found that except two, all are not having any fire safety measures. A team, led by DFO S Srinivasa Rao, will inspect government hospitals in Chirala, Markapur and Ongole and five private Covid-19 hospitals in the district on Monday.

In East Godavari, which recorded the highest number of positive cases, there are 26 Covid hospitals, including private ones, and five Covid care centres. Out of the total 26 hospitals, only 13 have got NOCs from the fire department. Four out of the five Covid care centres do not have NOCs.

Visakhapatnam Collector V Vinay Chand formed 26 task force teams to inspect all 79 Covid hospitals and care centres in the district and submit a report on fire safety within two days. DFO Ram Prakash said Covid centres in the district are located in government buildings. Buildings above 15 metres in height only come under the purview of the DFO and other structures are under the control of GVMC fire wing. There are only 18 buildings in Vizag, which are above 15 metres in height.

Krishna Collector A Md Imtiaz directed the officials to inspect the fire safety in Covid hospitals and care centres in the district. After inspecting the 18 Covid hospitals and 36 care centres, the official teams will submit a report on fire safety to the Collector.

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