Two leading hospitals in Kolkata were found short of safety measures on Monday,during a fire department inspection that followed the AMRI Hospital fire that had killed nearly 90. So was Nightingale,a nursing home inspected on Tuesday. It was not the first time the hospitals had been inspected. Woodland and Fortis had both been given extensions on their provisional no-objection certificates. This time,the inspection team gave Woodland 14 days until the next inspection,asked Fortis to do a mock fire drill before it can get an NOC again,and will serve Nightingale a notice with targets to meet. Woodland had fire alarms installed but not working,Fortis was running its store from a loft,and both premises had waste and equipment surrounding the premises,with Woodlands basement,too,serving as a waste dump. Authorities at both hospitals said they would work on a safety upgrade. Asked why they werent sealed,additional-director general (fire safety) D Biswas,who headed the inspection team,said,We have to think about the patients too. We cant just ask them to shut. The four-member team included Baren Sen,former director of fire services; Shekar Dey,fellow,Institute of Fire Engineers,UK; and Anindyo Chakrabarty,senior inspector,Institute of Fire Services. So far,a seven-member team under the preventive department was carrying out out inspections across departments,not just hospitals. That team will carry on while the current one is a special squad. Biswas,the final signing authority for NOCs,said inspections will be more regular now. As TV cameras flashed on waste and basements,staff at ILS Hospital,Calcutta Mercy Hospital and others started to clear their basements. At one of the hospitals inspected,an official said all hospitals in the city are running on provisional NOCs. Officials at various hospitals,who did not wish to be named,said inspections were usually lax but the publicity has turned them into a mela. Woodland,built in 1959 and one of Kolkatas oldest,and where Biswas himself was admitted in August,was last inspected in March 2009. It was asked to upgrade fire safety and given a provisional NOC for a year. It asked for an extension nearly two years later; the current NOC is till January. Now,fire alarms,smoke detectors and sprinklers dont work,Biswas said. The approach roads are too narrow,there is no fire evacuation plan. The building does not have even ramps. The hose system needs upgrade,and old equipment all around include a transformer near the gateway. We have given them 14 days, Biswas said. We will come back and see their progress on improving the access roads and building ramps. We have been working on our shortcomings, said Probir Bose,Woodland director. Our fire alarm system is in place,we just have to activate it. The authorities have asked us to upgrade the fire hoses,and to construct ramps to connect the three buildings. We will comply. Fortis Hospital and Kidney Institute is under renovation. At the loft serving as a store,Biswas said, This is a death trap. The hospital has been told to shut the store and an open canteen on the ground. A transformer blocked the gateway here too,while waste blocked the entire rear. The NOC expired in August; these shortcomings had been found in October too. We have now asked them to demonstrate a fire safety drill,and improve access and exit,before we grant them an NOC. The sprinklers and alarms were working, Biswas said. Dr Tirthankar Bagchi,hospital administrator,said,We took the building over from Wockhardt in December 2009. We are completing the renovation,and after that all safety measures will be put in place. At Nightingale on Tuesday,the team mentioned Section 35 of the Fire Services Act,which allows them to seal hospitals that fail to comply with norms. The building was commissioned in 1983. They have emergency platforms for fire exits,and a water storage plant dedicated to fire services; but the width of the gate is only 3.1 metres,when a fire engine requires a minimum 3.5 metres, said Baren Sen. No fire sprinklers or fire alarms were found installed,and some extinguishers were outdated. We will issue a notice in two days under Section 35,giving them short-,medium- and long-term requirements that we will inspect in 15 days,two months and six months. If they fail to comply,they will be issued closure orders, Biswas said. The instructions include higher pressure in the pump,updated extinguishers and fire drills; followed by alarms and a bridge connecting the main building to the annexe; and finally hydrants and sprinklers. The hospitals provisional NOC expired in September 2011. Hospital administrator R N Basu promised to comply. At AMRI,a September inspection had found a basement tier being used for storage though it was meant for parking. It got a three-month extension; Biswas said the next inspection was delayed,then the fire broke out.
