Bhubaneswar: Three fire service personnel and an electrical engineer were suspended on Wednesday by the govt for alleged lapses that led to the fire in the trauma care unit of SCB Medical College and Hospital, resulting in the deaths of 12 ICU patients, early on Monday.The action followed recommendations of a fact-finding team led by development commissioner Deoranjan Kumar Singh, which submitted its report to the govt a day earlier. Govt sources said more actions may follow in the days to come.
A senior official said although a dedicated fire-fighting team is stationed on the SCB campus, fire service personnel were “squarely responsible” for the fire alarm and sprinkler systems not working. Those posted at the hospital were required to conduct periodic checks of the fire-fighting infrastructure and ensure fire safety audit, which was not done.Similarly, faults in the electrical system — including frequent sparks and voltage fluctuation — were not pre-empted by the general electrical division. Earlier instances of minor sparks had been overlooked, the official said.According to a statement from the chief minister’s office, the suspended officials are Cuttack circle deputy fire officer Prakash Jena, assistant fire officer Sanjeeb Kumar Behera, SCB station officer Abhinav Prusty, and Ranjan Kumar Biswal, assistant executive engineer of the general electrical division in Cuttack.Even as the govt initiated action against “lower-rank” officials, both BJD and Congress continued to demand the resignation of health minister Mukesh Mahaling. In the assembly, members of both parties staged protests for the second consecutive day.Leader of opposition Naveen Patnaik reiterated the demand, saying that after the 2016 fire in a private hospital in Bhubaneswar, then health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak had resigned, “while this time the tragedy has occurred in a government hospital”.Several BJP MLAs — including Santosh Khatua, Babu Singh and Sidhant Mohapatra — countered that the govt has already started taking action and would ensure accountability, urging the opposition not to politicise a sensitive issue.BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said the attempt to shift responsibility onto a few junior officials is nothing but a diversionary tactic to shield those actually accountable.“The health minister must take moral responsibility and resign. The role of the director general of fire services must be thoroughly examined instead of limiting action to lower-level staff,” Mohanty said.
