Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Wednesday visited the District General Hospital at Bhandara in Nagpur after newborn infants died tragically in a fire that broke out at the hospital in the early hours of Saturday.
Koshyari directed the administration to take adequate measures to avoid the recurrence of incidents like the recent fire at the Infant Care Unit.
With this, the Governor announced assistance of Rs.2 lakh to the families of all children who lost their lives in the fire incident from his discretionary grant. Along with Koshyari Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Nana Patole, MP Sunil Mendhe, people’s representatives, and officials were also present.
The Bhandara fire which took place on Saturday (January 9 ) claimed the life of 10 infants after a fire broke out at the Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of Bhandara District General Hospital. According to hospital authorities on the late night of January 8, a nurse on duty opened the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and saw a large amount of smoke in the room, following which she alerted the hospital authorities. Soon after that, the hospital staff informed the fire brigade.
After reaching the spot the fire brigade official started the operation and reportedly rescued 7 to 8 children. However, 10 children died due to suffocation caused by the fire outbreak. Later the tragic incident politicians across the country visited the hospital and extended condolences. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi also extended Condolence.
On Saturday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also visited the hospital and ordered an inquiry into the fire incident. State Health Minister Rajesh Tope also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of children who died in the fire.
As per a close source, District General Hospital at Bhaandra had been operating without a mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the local fire department since its inception in 1981, which is currently the point of contention. Further information regarding to this is underway.