Nagpur: A day after fire claimed the lives of three newborns at Amravati District Women’s Hospital, glaring lapses in the safety measures have come to the fore. Amravati Municipal Corporation (AMC) officials said that the fire and electrical audits of the hospital had lapsed days before the deadly blaze.AMC officials said the fire audit of the hospital had expired shortly before the incident, while the electrical audit awaited renewal, according to officials. Ajay Pandhre, fire superintendent of AMC, said the civic body had repeatedly alerted the hospital administration that its fire audit was due for renewal.“We sent notices on WhatsApp to the hospital administration on August 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 urging it to get the fire audit renewed as it was expiring on Friday. But the hospital administration paid no heed,” he told TOI.Pandhre said the hospital had until midnight on Friday to initiate the renewal process, but no action was taken before the weekend. “Our office was closed on Saturday and Sunday. And the tragedy took place in the early hours of Monday, killing three newborns,” he said.The fire superintendent also questioned the preliminary account that a ventilator blast triggered the fire. “I personally feel that a short-circuit may be the more likely cause of fire than a ventilator blast,” Pandhre said, adding that electrical equipment in intensive care units operates continuously and requires regular inspection.Pandhre said that electrical audits should be conducted periodically because equipment has a finite service life. “Fire equipment comes into play only when there is a fire, but the same is not the case with electric equipment,” Pandhre said.Dr Vinod Pawar, civil surgeon of Amravati District General Hospital and medical superintendent of District Women’s Hospital, acknowledged that the electrical audit was overdue but said the hospital had initiated the renewal process.“The electric audit of the women’s hospital was done earlier and it was long due for renewal. We had given two letters to the PWD executive engineer a month ago urging him to renew the electric audit of the hospital,” Pawar said.He added that a superintendent-level officer had been deputed to monitor the process. “The renewal had not been done; it was in process when the tragedy took place,” he said.The fire broke out in one of the SNCU wings where eight newborns were admitted. Hospital staff immediately began evacuating infants, while fire personnel wearing breathing apparatus sets entered the affected area. Three newborns, however, died from smoke inhalation.
