Bhubaneswar, Oct 24: The massive blaze at Sum Hospital that claimed 26 lives so far, Opposition Congress and BJP has so targeted the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government in State for failing to frame the rules for successful implementation of Orissa Fire Service Act- 1993, which has made the fire department a powerless body.
Similarly, former minister and top Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik questioned the efficacy of government system. On the other hand, BJD admitted the lapses in framing the rules, but flayed the Congress-led government at the same time. The recent Statement of the Director General (Fire service) has clearly exposed government inefficiency in the approving the proposed rules. His speech showed the powerlessness of fire service department to take action against those who are violating the safety norms.
Odisha Fire Service Act was passed in the Assembly 23 years ago. But, the government is yet to approve a set of proposed rules under the legislation. As a result, not only the Sum, but also a number of private health clinics are running unabatedly sans valid fire safety certificate.
Despite being aware about the matter, the fire department has become a mere toothless tiger. 271 private hospital and nursing homes had applied for fire safety certificate out of which 244 applications were rejected by the fire department on the ground that these have failed to satisfy the safety guidelines. However, it is a matter of surprise that the Health department and Khurdha district administration had renewed the license of many of them.
