TMC seals 15 hospitals in Thane for flouting fire safety rules

A month after Bombay High Court’s directive, Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has sealed 15 private hospitals in the city that were found flouting fire safety norms.

Last month, the Bombay High Court directed the civic body to seal all private hospitals and nursing homes operating without a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department.

The court had issued the directive while hearing a plea claiming that 50 percent of private hospitals and nursing homes in the city were ill-equipped to deal with fire incidents.

The data was based on a survey conducted by the Thane fire department earlier this year.

Following the high court’s directive, a four-member committee of civic officials was formed which inspected various hospitals earlier this month and identified 15 of them for flouting fire safety rules.

TMC’s chief fire officer Sashikant Kale on Wednesday said that they had sealed all 15 hospitals that were found violating norms.

Among the sealed hospitals, five were located in the city’s Wagle Estate area, four in Mumbra, and three each in Balkum and Naupada localities.

“These hospitals were first issued notices. When they failed to produce the NOC, we had no option but to seal these health care centres while allowing them to shift patients to other hospitals,” he said.

The licenses of these hospitals were likely to be suspended or cancelled, he added.

Back in April last year, around 200 hospitals in Thane applied for NOC from the fire department. Of these, 188 hospitals were at that time found to have complied with the fire safety regulations and were given the NOC.