Mukesh Rajan
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 5

Drawing the attention of state and Union Territory (UT) governments towards the occurrence of fire incidents in hospitals and nursing homes in the recent past, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday asked them to put in place a plan of action to ensure that such fatal situations never occur.

In a written communication to the states and the UTs, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has said that in the context of recent fire incidents and particularly in view of the impending summer season “it needs to be highlighted that either because of high temperature, lack of maintenance or high load on the internal wirings within the facilities, short-circuiting takes place, leading to fire incidents and consequential loss of life and essential infrastructure”.

In the letter, Bhalla insisted that the system should be sensitised and special care should be taken “to put in place a plan of action, to ensure that no fire incident occurs in any of the health facilities (particularly COVID-19 dedicated facilities) both in the government and private sector”.

The state and UT governments have also been asked to conduct a detailed review with officials from the health, power and fire departments, and prepare a detailed plan of action to ensure that “fire safety measures are in place in all hospitals and health facilities,” it noted.

Further, the Home Secretary impressed upon the state and the UT government to issue directions to the concerned officials at various levels so that field-level officials visit heath facilities to “examine internal wirings and availability of functional safety equipment as per fire safety guidelines”.

In the letter, Bhalla said, “A large number of COVID-19 cases are under treatment in COVID-dedicated health facilities across the country. In most of the cases, oxygen supported beds, ICU beds, and ventilators are critical interventions, and therefore, it is important to ensure that there is uninterrupted power supply in all the hospitals and medical facilities.”

The Home Secretary also emphasised that saving every life is a priority and it is critical to ensure that required support is provided to all health facilities managing COVID-19 by taking requisite actions in advance to avert any such incident, which could hamper effective health care delivery to patients.