Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam visited the ESIC Kamgar Hospital in Andheri on Tuesday after the death toll rose to 8 as massive fire erupted in the hospital a day before.
Nirupam said, “Under the rule of the Congress Party, we had handed over this hospital to the Central Govt in the year 2009. Central Govt wanted to demolish the hospital in order to construct a new building with a medical college. National Projects Construction Corporation (NPCC), a Govt firm was given this job by the Central Govt. But the fact that the hospital building has been left untouched since past 10 years is extremely shameful.”
“If big construction firms don’t do their jobs, it is the duty of the Govt to take stringent actions against such firms. We have also found out that the quality of material used in constructing the building in question was not up to the mark which has caused this accident. Such contractors must be blacklisted and actions must be taken against them. The Govt must fix responsibility and book the culprit,” he added.
Sanjay Nirupam further said that the number of fire-related accidents across Mumbai has increased drastically in the past 5-7 years. The main reason behind this rise as stated by Nirupam is the fact that the fire rules, regulations and norms are not followed and implemented properly. “Without the NOC from the fire department, no construction work can take place in Mumbai. Either the fire department officials are giving fake NOC or OC’s are being granted without an NOC from the fire department. Devendra Fadnavis has announced that he will conduct investigation on this matter. However, this entire case stinks of a racket,” he said.
The Mumbai Congress Chief demanded that the hospital staff must be employed in Kandivali’s ESIC hospital on a temporary basis. While Maha CM Devendra Fadnavis has announced compensation worth Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased, Rs 2 lakh each for those who have serious injuries and Rs 1 lakh each for those with minor injuries, Sanjay Nirupam has demanded an unbiased and legit investigation in the entire issue.
