Death trap: Those responsible for Mumbai hospital fire deserve exemplary punishment

Monday’s horrific fire at Mumbai’s government-run ESIC Kamnagar hospital that claimed at least eight lives – including that of a six-month-old baby – and left as many as 146 injured, exemplifies a shocking failure of safety standards. The hospital reportedly failed a fire safety check just a fortnight ago. The fire department had apparently found that the hospital’s sprinkler and detection system was not in line with provisions. This is simply unpardonable for a critical facility like a hospital. Although a short-circuit is suspected of starting the fire, there are now reports that inflammable material kept on the ground floor may have led to the flames spreading rapidly.

In fact, a day after the fire the staff of the hospital held a protest against the absence of proper safety provisions. Apparently, many of them didn’t even know that the hospital did not have a proper fire NOC. An under-construction new wing of the hospital had applied for an NOC. But fire authorities found irregularities here and even unearthed problems with the hospital’s old building, putting the latter’s NOC in the provisional category. The failure of hospital authorities to rectify these issues is unconscionable and needs to be dealt with severely.

There are parallels here with the tragic fire at Kolkata’s AMRI hospital in 2011 that claimed the lives of 89 people. There too medical waste and chemicals kept in the basement of the hospital – about which fire service authorities had cautioned – had aided the fire. Worse, senior hospital authorities had run away abandoning their patients when the fire broke out in AMRI. A hospital is supposed to be a place for healing, not a death trap. The AMRI incident had led to the arrest of six board members of the hospital. Similar strict action is warranted over Mumbai’s ESIC hospital fire as well.