Fire department for final check on Kozhikode Medical College

KOZHIKODE: After all the directions to make buildings including the Institute of Maternal and Child Health (IMCH) fireproof failed, the Fire and Rescue department will serve an ultimatum to the Government Medical College hospital authorities, where thousands of patients and bystanders gather everyday.  Checks on Monday and Tuesday would be crucial, said Fire and Rescue assistant divisional officer Arun Bhaskar. “The medical college hospital is not complying with the fire and rescue safety rule and the authorities are not bothered to correct them after repeated warnings. The lack of installing safety measures was noticed recently, after a notice was issued six months ago. Strict checks will be made on Monday and Tuesday and the report will be submitted to the district medical officer, as a first step,” said Mr Arun.

In the new building of the IMCH, though fire systems were installed, they are not functional. The building is yet to receive the no objection certificate from the fire and rescue department, said the officer. However, in the old building, they are yet to install the fire system. “There is no fire exit at all. All the four staircases, to be used in case of an emergency as a ‘fire exit’ are damaged irreparably. There should be an evacuation and fire exit plan in each of the floors. In addition to that, there should be signboards leading to the fire exits and there should be illumination on the boards so that they should be visible even in times of power outages,” he added. Since the medical college is an old building, the chances of fire are more. Last year, during a fire on the campus, the smoke had reached the operation theatre and the fire and safety personnel took five hours to douse it.