Pune: PMC Orders Fire Audit Of Hospitals After Bhandara Incident
Pune, January 10, 2021: Following the fire incident at Bhandara District Hospital, a letter was issued by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Health Department to the Building Department to conduct a ‘Fire Audit’ of Municipal Hospitals and Dispensaries.
Municipal Corporation’s Kamla Nehru Hospital, Late Chandumama Sonawane Maternity Hospital, and Rajiv Gandhi Hospital have neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), therefore the audit should be conducted as a matter of priority, the department stated.
The issue of ‘Fire Audit’ in all government and private hospitals in the state has come to the fore in the wake of the death of a child in a fire at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Bhandara district hospital. After this incident, the health department of the PMC has also woken up and the movement of the ‘fire audit’ of the hospitals and dispensaries of the PMC has started.
According to the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act 2006, the person or organization who owns the building is required to conduct a ‘Fire Safety Audit’ of the building twice a year by a licensed agency. It is mandatory to submit the certificate of this inspection to the office of the Chief Fire Officer of the Fire Department in January and July every year. According to this, since all the hospitals and buildings of the corporation are owned by the building department of PMC, it is the responsibility of the building department to conduct a fire audit of these buildings.
