Many private Covid hospitals in Andhra Pradesh have no fire NoC

Visakhapatnam/Vijayawada/Tirupati: Many private hospitals notified as Covid treatment facilities in the state have not obtained their Fire NOC till date. Officials, while notifying private hospitals, had insisted that they adhere to safety norms and obtain NOC from the fire safety department.

In January last, the government launched a special drive and issued notices to hundreds of hospitals after fire erupted at a health care centre in Bhandara in Maharashtra in which 10 infants were killed.

In Visakhapatnam, 40 private and corporate hospitals were notified as Covid treatment facilities and those that were located in Health City at Arilova were declared as fire safety compliant. Ten hospitals outside the Health City have not obtained the NOC.

“Six hospitals got NoC during the last two days and four are yet to comply with the fire safety norms,’’ said regional fire officer with GVMC, Niranjan Reddy.

He said unlike in normal times, the authorities would not hesitate to close down the hospitals.

“Merely having safety equipment is not enough. The hospitals should conduct mock drills, which they have not done despite repeated advisories.”

Reports from Vijayawada said 26 private hospitals have been notified as Covid hospitals and four of these have applied for NoC. But the requests were held up as they did not adhere to all the norms.

Tirupati reports said three out of the eight hospitals notified there as Covid treatment facilities are not having the Fire NoC. The fire department refused to issue NoC to RUSH hospital, Lotus hospital and ESI hospital.

The Purnas Remedy hospital, DBR hospital, Sankalpa hospital, Narayanadri hospital and Amara hospital have obtained fire NOC, said Kiran Kumara Reddy, assistant district fire officer in Tirupati.