Nehru Hospital is a fire hazard, reveals PGI audit

CHANDIGARH: The PGIMER’s oldest building, Nehru Hospital, does not comply with firesafety norms, an audit of the premier health institute has revealed. While the 55-year-old, five-storeyedbuilding is a fire hazard, the audit says newer buildings on the institute’s campus are 95% fire compliant.
The Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, had carried out the audit after fire at a public hospital in Bhubaneswar killed 19 patients. More than a lakh people, including patients, doctors, attendants and many others, visit Nehru Hospital, which houses emergency and general wards, and faculty offices. The hospital commonly known as the old OPD. It is also home to patient records and a dialysis unit.

When contact, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) superintending hospital engineer P S Saini said they were in the process of getting a noobjection certificate from the fire department for the building. “The CBRI has advised fire safety norms for Advanced Eye Centre and the pumping stations. We will introduce fire-safety steps in phases,” said Saini.

The satellite centre of the PGI in Sangrur and another hospital under construction on the PGI campus would be 100% fire compliant, said Saini. “We will have our standing state committee meeting on June 10 to decide on fire auditing,” he said.

A major fire broke out in the emergency operation-theatre complex of the PGIMER last month. Despite this, it took PGI officials more than a month to respond to queries of the TOI on the audit report. A major challenge for the PGI is to ensure 100% fires-safety compliance of old buildings. “The corridors cannot be widened for the fire exit. We will have to take advice from the CBRI, so that our buildings are sustainable for 10 years more,” said Saini.