NAGPUR: The Bhandara District General Hospital has received Rs1.1.53 crore for restoration of its Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) which was completely destroyed in the fire on January 9. Currently, the SNCU is a no go place as police had imposed restriction on movement after the fire which killed 10 premature babies.
The government has released Rs13 lakh for infrastructure, Rs44 lakh for electrical and fire safety and Rs96 lakh under National Health Mission for instruments and other equipment like radiant warmers, photo-therapy machine, etc.
The work on repairs and renovation would kick off only after the Bhandara police withdraw the restrictions.
Acting civil surgeon Dr Piyush Jakkal told TOI that they are expecting the police would remove the security tapes and permit hospital administration to carry out rejuvenation works. “Once we get the possession of the SNCU, it will take around six weeks to restart the facility,” he said and confirmed that the funds have been received.
The hospital has made makeshift arrangement for treating preterm babies in its Maternal and Child Health wing. The facility is behind the ill-fated SNCU in a separate building and reportedly has sufficient space for treating premature babies.
The funds allocated for SNCU are in addition to the Rs1.45 crore proposal moved last year for revamping fire and safety infrastructure.
Dr Jakkal said the earlier proposal for entire hospital is likely to be cleared along with those for all government hospitals in the state. Following the fire, the government had ordered fire audit of all its hospitals.
It’s learnt, the police department is yet to get the reports of the expert committee and that of the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL). “The reports are expected soon after which decision to lodge FIR would be taken soon,” said a senior police officer.
Bhandara police are also likely to withdraw the restrictions after the reports are received. “Though photographs and videos have been collected, the crime scene may require to be examined yet again after the crucial reports are received,” said an officer.
As per the divisional commissioner Sanjeev Kumar-led 8-member panel, the fire had broken out between 1am and 1.30am following a spark in the controller panel of radiant warmers. Inflammable material such as insulation, plastic material, cotton beds, wires present between two baby warmers made matters worse. Room temperature also rose.
Some babies were on oxygen which fuelled the fire. The room was also closed. The fire died down but the smoke spread in huge quantity in the SNCU. Forensic report stated three babies died of shock due to burns while seven of them succumbed due to suffocation from smoke.