Chennai: The Madras High Court has granted 3 more months to the state government for implementing its order relating to providing ramps and fire fighting equipment in the hospitals.
The First Bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose posted after three months, further hearing of a Public Interest Litigation from Jawaharlal Shanmugam, which sought a direction to the authorities to provide ramp facility as a mandatory rule from the topmost floor to ground floor for easy evacuation of patients in all high rise hospital buildings.
When the case came up for hearing on Friday, the Principal Secretary, Health and Family welfare department filed a status report stating that the state government had accorded sanction for a sum of Rs 1,154 crore for providing fire fighting sprinkler system in the basement floor of Tower Block-I and II at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai.
The report further said out of 203 multi storied buildings in Tertiary Care Institutions (Medical College Hospitals) ramp facilities were available in 105 and in 98 buildings, ramp facilities have to be made. In the Secondary Care Institutions (District/Taluk hospitals) out of 326 multi storied buildings, ramp facilities were available in 211 and 95 buildings, ramps facilities have to be made. The inspection of private hospitals was done from December 5, 2017 in Chennai by forming 6 teams in which the petitioner has also accompanied and a total number of 206 buildings were inspected in Chennai. District Level Teams have also been formed by the Joint Director of Health services concerned. So far 67 percent of hospitals (1977 out of 2934) were inspected in the districts.
Further, the Engineer-in-chief (Buildings) submitted a detailed estimate to the tune of Rs 29.71 crore for construction of ramps and fire fighting system for secondary care institutions and to the tune of Rs 55.92 crore for Tertiary care institutions and proposals were already sent to the Finance department, the report added.
