Chandigarh: At a time when neonatal intensive care units, such as the one in Amravati, have witnessed tragic infant deaths, PGI continues to operate critical patient-care facilities without official fire safety clearance certification.High-risk zones inside the institute’s older campus buildings, including the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), labour rooms, and multiple wards, are currently functioning without formal fire safety clearances.The absence of fire NOCs across these older blocks highlights ongoing structural and technical vulnerabilities. Following a comprehensive fire safety audit of the ageing facilities conducted by the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, PGI officials prepared detailed cost estimates for mandatory safety modifications. However, the formal clearance procedure remains tied up in administrative stages.The finalised estimates must be submitted to the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) or processed through secretarial channels for approval before competitive tenders can be floated for structural work.In the interim, the hospital administration is relying on piecemeal measures to mitigate immediate hazards across the uncertified structures.Superintending hospital engineer Col G S Bhatti confirmed that contracts for certain key installations, such as fire alarms and gas pressure panel work, have been awarded. He added that “piecemeal work is being carried out” while senior administrative leaders, including the deputy director of administration and the finance division, monitor the procedure.Other preventive steps taken inside the uncertified buildings include replacing old electrical sockets, installing automated gas suppression systems in electrical panels to counter short circuits, and relocating Uninterruptible Power Supply units outside patient-care areas.The lack of formal fire safety certification in these old structures comes against the backdrop of repeated fire hazards at the institute. A massive blaze at Nehru Hospital on Oct 10, 2023, forced the evacuation of 424 patients, including newborns and pregnant women, followed by another fire at the Advanced Eye Centre six days later.Both Oct blazes were caused by sparks in UPS batteries. Subsequent fires near the laundry plant in Nov 2023 and in an Advanced Trauma Centre corridor in early 2024 have further intensified scrutiny of PGIMER’s delayed fire safety certification process.
