MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday met kin of the newborns who died in a fire at the Bhandara district hospital the day before and said orders have been issued for conducting safety audit of all hospitals in the State. Ten of the 17 infants, aged between one month and three months, died in the blaze erupted at the Special Newborn Care Unit of the four-storey State-run hospital here in east Maharashtra. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, “people come to government hospitals with a hope of quality treatment. It’s the duty of administration to serve them well.

 

Our efforts should be to take effective measures to ensure that Bhandara like tragedy never occurs in future in the State. There should be no loss of human life due to negligence on the part of Government machinery. Considering the tragedy, instructions for strict fire and electrical audit has been given.” CM Thackeray visited the ground site of the Bhandara tragedy on Sunday where 10 infants lost their lives in the fire that erupted in early hours of Saturday at SNCU of Government District General Hospital. He also interacted with the parents of seven infants who were rescued and took stock of the situation. Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Nana Patole, Transport Minister Anil Parab, Guardian Minister Dr Vishwajeet Kadam, MP Sunil Mendhe, MLA Narendra Bhondekar (Bhandara), MLA Raju Karemore (Tumsar), CM’s Additional Chief Secretary Ashishkumar Singh, Divisional Commissioner Dr Sanjeevkumar, Collector Sandeep Kadam, Superintendent of Police Vasant Jadhav, Health Director Sadhna Tayade, Deputy Director Health Dr Sanjay Jaiswal, Civil Surgeon Dr Pramod Khandate were prominently present on the occasion. “There are no words to describe the pain and grief of the parents who have lost their kids in the tragic incident and we could only try to console them.

 

The fire and electrical audit will be made compulsory across the State. Adequate funds will be made available for the purpose. Investigation will be done to find out the exact cause of fire under with the help of experts. Besides, the probe will also check if the fire was an accident or was a result of negligence etc. Necessary arrangements will be made in all government hospitals in the State after finding out the cause of the incident,” Thackeray informed.

 

The CM interacted with the media people outside the hospital. He also interacted with the members of fire fighting team and staff who worked in dousing the fire and rescuing the seven infants. Guardian Minister Dr Vishwajeet Kadam informed that all the safely rescued infants are getting good treatment and that administration is taking care that health services should remain continued without getting affected. Earlier, Collector Sandeep Kadam narrated the CM in detail about the tragic incident. He told that despite committed efforts of the fire fighting team and hospital staff, they could not save the lives of 10 infants. Kadam informed the CM that after completing the formalities all the bodies were handed over to their parents and cheques of administrative aid were also given to them. Teams of judicial experts, electrical experts, VNIT, National Fire Brigade Engineering College, PWD and others have also entered Bhandara for probe and the report of which is likely to be received soon.

 

Divisional Commissioner Dr Sanjeev Kumar will chair the enquiry committee in which Mumbai Fire Brigade Chief P S Rahangdale is included as member. Besides, the Director of Health Services and experts from other departments will also be a part of the panel, informed Chief Minister Thackeray. The committee has been directed to submit its report immediately. According to the report of this committee, further action will be taken after finding out the exact cause of the fire. He said the recommendations of the committee will be implemented at other hospitals in the State as well. Nana Patole said the fire incident is extremely unfortunate. The cause of the fire should be investigated and strict action should be taken against the culprits so that such heart-wrenching incident does not take place in future. He suggested that the poor patients coming for treatment at the district general hospital should be given regular treatment and the burnt ward should be repaired immediately.