Noida: Around 50 big and small private hospitals and nursing homes in Gautam Budh Nagar district are operating without a required fire safety certificate. Other medical facilities also lack proper fire safety measures.
This was revealed during fire department inspections checking existing fire safety rules in the district. The inspections happened after a tragic fire at a Delhi hospital killed six infants on Saturday.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) Noida chapter has formed a committee with fire experts and doctors. This committee will inspect medical facilities to check if they are following fire safety guidelines properly.
“Around 50 big and small private hospitals and nursing homes across the district are operating without getting a no-objection certificate from the fire department,” said Pradeep Kumar Chaubey, the chief fire officer in Gautam Budh Nagar.
The hospitals and nursing homes not following guidelines are private ones, mostly located in outer areas of Noida and Greater Noida.
There are around 450 registered big and small healthcare facilities like hospitals, nursing homes, labs and diagnostic centers in the district. Of these, 188 are hospitals that admit patients.
Fire safety no-objection certificates are mandatory for commercial buildings, residential buildings, offices and other establishments. Certificates are only given after fire department inspections confirm the buildings follow fire safety laws.
Buildings under 15 meters tall and 500 square meters don’t need certificates. But they must still have proper fire safety like alarms, extinguishers and fire exits.
18 identified hospitals have reapplied for fire NOCs. 9 others that didn’t reapply had their licenses cancelled. Some hospitals are still installing fire safety equipment.
“We are informing officials about facilities not following rules while still operating,” said Dr Chandan Soni, deputy chief medical officer in Noida.
IMA Noida president Sunil Awana said they have asked the association to address these issues. The 5-member IMA committee will inspect medical premises across the district for fire guideline violations.
Meanwhile, fire officials are continuing inspections to identify more establishments not following fire safety guidelines.