Bhubaneswar: Only three of Orissa’s 568 hospitals have fire safety clearance, the National Human Rights Commission said Wednesday and issued a notice to the state government over the fire incident at SUM Hospital in Bhubaneswar which has claimed several lives. “In Orissa, out of 568 hospitals, only three have clearance of the department of fire safety,” the NHRC said in a statement Wednesday. The commission has issued the notice to the government’s Chief Secretary and sought a report in the matter within six weeks, including on the relief and rehabilitation efforts for the next of kin of the deceased and the injured, an NHRC official said. “He has also been asked to inform about the steps or precautions taken or proposed to be taken by the state government to prevent recurrence of such mishaps,” the official said. The Commission has observed that “callous attitude” and “lapses of the authorities”, if any, amount to violation of right to life of the patients, and expressed shock as to how the state authorities “allowed” such a large number of hospitals to function without proper fire safety clearance. The NHRC has also observed that reportedly the hospital in question was warned as early as in 2013 for not having adequate safety measures but the hospital authorities “ignored” it.
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