Delhi hospital fire: Neighbours had warned of safety hazard; issue raised in MCD meets

Portions of a boutique and a bank situated in the same line were also damaged, while the glass wall of the car showroom situated right opposite was shattered due to the impact of the explosion.

The facility was located on a road where, according to the MCD, mixed-land use is permitted, allowing non-residential activities on residential premises.

“My brother’s optical shop and our residence on the second floor have been charred… The cylinders started burning, blasting, and flying in different directions. Multiple complaints had been made because they used to load and unload cylinders all day and night. Sometimes, they would line the cylinders in front of our house too,” said Gayathri Kaushik, sister of Ashwini Kaushik, whose residence shares a wall with the hospital.

“Residents from all the floors in our building had complained, even the neighbors next to our house had complained, but no action was taken. We complained so much that it even led to public fights with the hospital authorities. The oxygen trucks used to come daily to refill the cylinders, sometimes lining them up in front of our shop,” said Faiyaj Alam, who works at the optical shop.

“We have complained to the MCD and the area councilors multiple times, but no action was taken. We were aware that the constant loading and unloading of cylinders was a safety hazard. They used to load and unload cylinders all the time. A year ago, some people in our neighborhood even moved out of their rented houses due to the constant noise,” said Vidhi, a resident of the neighborhood.

Gunjan Gupta, an ex-Municipal Councilor from Anand Vihar ward and a resident of the area, said, “Complaints have been made by the RWAs and the residents of the area, but no action has ever been taken. Infants with breathing difficulties were kept here…If they needed such large amounts of oxygen, should a nursery like this have been allowed to function in a residential area?”

Pankaj Luthra, the MCD councilor under whose jurisdiction the area falls, said, “I had complained to the MCD about the refilling of oxygen cylinders. The officials even visited the hospital to check its premises, but they said they didn’t find anything amiss and the hospital had a proper Delhi government licence. If they had not received the licence, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Preeti, the Dilshad Colony councilor from AAP, who previously oversaw the ward, said, “I had raised the issue right after the hospital opened (in 2015). I raised the issue in the zonal MCD meeting too. The hospital should not have been opened. I told them that they were keeping infants under observation on the first floor and filling oxygen cylinders on the ground floor in a small, congested building, but no action was taken.”