Just 1% of govt hospitals meet fire safety norms

Bengaluru: Less than 1% of the government hospitals and only close to 5% of private hospitals in the state have complied with fire safety norms, according to data presented by the health department in the Legislative Council.

The lack of fire safety measures puts the lives of thousands of patients at risk. Data showed that only 14 of the 2,878 government hospitals and 315 of the 5,850 private hospitals in the state abide by fire safety norms. 

In the last five years, fire accidents have been reported at four government hospitals and three private hospitals.

Senior officials from the health department told DH that a primary assessment has shown that the department would need Rs 600 crore to upgrade government hospitals to meet fire compliance standards and work will be taken up in phases. “We have also asked officials to prioritise health establishments based on risks and work will be taken up at such places soon,” Harsh Gupta, Principal Secretary (health department), told DH.

Gupta added that many of those which have not complied with the norms are buildings less than 15 metres high and the risks in such buildings are relatively low. 

The department has also decided not to renew licences of private hospitals that have failed to follow fire safety norms.

“We do ask for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire safety department when a private hospital applies to register under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (KPME) Act. However, the fire safety certification has to be renewed after three years and many of them would not have done it,” he explained.

“Also, earlier, we used to ask buildings less than 15 metres high for an affidavit stating they have followed fire safety norms. Six months back, we made fire safety certificates mandatory for them as well. We will make sure the licence of establishments that do not comply with fire safety norms is not renewed when they approach the department for renewal,” he explained.

Complying with fire safety measures is crucial, especially in hospitals since there might be many immobile patients.

“Many old hospitals do not comply with such norms and it is important that the government, instead of just flagging the issue, gives them deadlines. The staff here also need to be trained on fire drills to ensure they know how to evacuate patients during an emergency,” Dr C N Manjunath, former director of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and MP representing Bengaluru Rural constituency, told DH.