Pimpri-Chinchwad: 110 private hospitals under lens over inadequate firefighting systems

Gawde said private hospitals have to conduct the audit on their own whereas the civic fire brigade conducts the audit for PCMC hospitals. “Our team conducts the audit of civic hospitals. There are 14 civic hospitals whose audit has been conducted. We had recommended necessary action to the civic administration to strengthen the firefighting systems in civic hospitals and, accordingly, steps have been initiated,” he said.

Similarly, Gawde said after they issued notices to private hospitals, many of them have taken steps to put proper firefighting systems in place. “Some have started the process, some have done it partially. Others have promised to take action. We are trying to ensure that all hospitals, civic or private, have adequate firefighting systems in case of emergencies,” he said.

The fire brigade chief added that Pimpri-Chinchwad has a total of 473 hospitals. “Of these, 266 have completed their fire audit while 110 are yet to complete it.” He pointed out that almost all big hospitals like Aditya Birla, Lokmanya and Niramaya have completed their fire audit. “However, the small and mediums are on our radar, we are after them to get things corrected,” he said.

Gawde said after two major fire incidents in Vidarbha and Thane, they have been monitoring civic and private hospitals in a bid to ensure that such tragedies do not recur. “The 110 hospitals on our radar are non-Covid hospitals. But that does not mean they can get away. They will have to do everything possible to put proper firefighting systems in place,” he said, adding that the audit was mandatory.