Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The city administration has gone all gun blazing against coaching institutes operating from basements, prompted by the recent Delhi coaching mishap, but has conveniently ignored other establishments, such as hospitals, pathology labs, and medical stores, that also operate from basements and pose significant safety concerns.
When Free Press visited various hospitals and pathology centers in the city, it was found that many of them were operating in basements without proper safety arrangements.
Medical store at LBS Hospital. |
At Path Care Diagnostic, the pathology is situated in the basement, with inadequate fire safety measures and no provision to check waterlogging.
Akash, the manager of the pathology, said that they follow the guidelines of the Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) regarding pollution checks but lack a fire safety exit, and their parking is outside, not in the basement.
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At Unique Hospital, the medical store, ICU ward, and other wards are located in the basement. Several patients and their family members were found present there. Wajhiya, the hospital manager, said that they have proper waterlogging prevention, an emergency exit, and also a fire safety alarm, ensuring such situations are unlikely to occur there.
Similarly, at LBS Hospital, the medical store, food corner, and emergency ward are situated in the basement without an emergency exit. The emergency exit is located on the first floor, not in the basement. Similarly, Balaji Children Hospitalís pathology is situated in the basement; SAF Surgeon Dental Clinic and Awasthi Pathology, among others, are also running from the basement.
Basement should be used only for parking vehicles
Basements shall be used only for parking vehicles and shall be protected with automatic sprinkler systems. Additionally, each vent shall have a cross-sectional area (aggregate) of not less than 2.5% of the floor area spread evenly around the perimeter of the basement, and a clear headroom of at least 2.4 meters shall be provided for the entire basement.
"The current crackdown focuses solely on coaching institutes, as many issues have surfaced during these inspections. He further stated that no guidelines have been issued for inspecting other areas, such as hospitals operating from basements," --- Ashutosh Sharma, SDM.
Basement library of TIME coaching sealed
The administration sealed the basement library of TIME Coaching Institute on Thursday. No students were found studying at the library when the officials visited there for the inspection. Meanwhile, a mock drill was also conducted at coaching institutes in MP Nagar Zone-2. The exercise aimed to train staff and students in proper emergency response procedures, ensuring that they were prepared for any incidents and reinforcing safety protocols.
The department will hold a meeting of all the coaching institutes on Saturday, where the administration will instruct the institutes to comply with the safety norms. On Tuesday, six coaching centers in MP Nagar with basement classrooms were also sealed by the administration. On Wednesday, Nagar Nigam teams conducted thorough inspections of the coaching institutes.
