Delhi govt to direct all hospitals to do fire audits by June 8

The move is aimed at ensuring that hospitals are equipped to deal with fire incidents, Bharadwaj said after a meeting in Delhi secretariat with health department officials. The meeting was called to discuss fire safety at city hospitals in the aftermath of the late Saturday night fire, the officials said .

“There is a rule that hospitals with a height of less than 9 metres do not require fire NOC (no-objection certificate). This is the reason why this hospital also did not have a fire NOC. Now, we have issued instructions that all hospitals, whether single-storey or double-storey, must have all safety arrangements to deal with fire at in their premises. It will be ensured that water sprinkler systems and automatic smoke detectors are installed in all hospitals irrespective of their height so that fire can be prevented from spreading in the building,” said Bharadwaj.

According to officials, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and special secretary (health) were present in the meeting.