Indian Express 12.04.2010
VS Hospital fire: Civic body orders inquiry
Express News Service Tags : VS Hospital fire Posted: Monday , Apr 12, 2010 at 0111 hrs
Ahmedabad: Probe to look into causes of fire and suggest precautionary measures to prevent such recurrences, report to be tabled within a week
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has constituted an independent inquiry into Saturday’s fire at V S Hospital. This is in addition to the inquiry into the mishap by the Forensic Science Laboratory. The blaze at the catheterisation laboratory on Saturday afternoon gutted equipment worth Rs 4 crore.
Municipal Commissioner I P Gautam said the inquiry will look into the causes behind the fire as also suggest precautions that need to be taken to prevent any recurrence. Anil C Shah, Additional Chief Engineer (Electrical) in the Light Department will conduct the inquiry, he said. “If needed, Shah will be provided additional assistance in carrying out the probe because in such investigations, attempts are often made in settling inter and intra department scores,” he added.
The report is expected to be tabled within a week.
Gautam added that Wipro had set up the cath lab on a turnkey basis, but so far, nothing points to equipment failure except for a faulty inverter and an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) system that caught fire.
Wipro representatives will visit the spot to ascertain their portion of responsibility, he said. He added that the equipment is within the warranty period and there is no financial burden on the AMC arising out of their replacement.
Gautam further said that there has been a lot of improvement in the civil structures at V S Hospital but there may have been some mismatch of wires. It is yet to be ascertained whether the smoke came out of the inverter or the control panels, he said.
Meanwhile, Hospital Superintendent Dr M H Makwana said that teams from the police department and FSL had visited the place on Sunday to gather more information on the incident. Preliminary inquiry has hinted at problem in the UPS installed by Wipro. A check of the hospital wiring has not revealed any problem of power fluctuation. The trouble was with the equipment and not the wiring, he said.
As on date, eight patients are undergoing treatment at the trauma ward after they were shifted from the catheterisation laboratory.
Gandhinagar FSL official examines site
A DAY after a major fire broke out in V S Hospital, a senior Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) officer from Gandhinagar examined the premises on Sunday.
M N Joshi, Assistant Director at FSL, took stock of the situation, based on which he will submit a detailed report on the accident, safety norms, existing safety equipment, drawbacks in crisis management, and the cause of the fire.
FSL Director J M Vyas said Joshi has prepared a preliminary report based on details from the hospital. “He will hand it over to me shortly. We will have a special meeting on Monday to discuss the issue before submitting the report,” he said. A V Hingrajiya, the FSL in-charge at Ahmedabad was to submit the report by today. “But the state FSL will now prepare the report,” Vyas said.
