AHMEDABAD: The administrator of the fire-hit Welfare Hospital in Bharuch has told the Gujarat high court that the fire officer had informed him that the fire inspection team would not visit the Covid facility.
The facility was in the new building of the hospital. A fire had killed 18 people in the hospital’s Covid ward on the night of April 30.
The hospital administrator, Ajaz Patel, has stated on an affidavit that the authorities and the fire team knew about the Covid facility being run in the new building. He said the mother of the leading fire officer was admitted in the same Covid ward in the new building, which was visible from the entrance of the campus. He said a huge signboard, ‘New Covid Centre’, had been placed on the new building to assure other patients that the Covid facility had been shifted from the main hospital building. The affidavit was filed on Friday.
Earlier this month, the state government and the Bharuch municipality had asserted that the authorities were not informed by the hospital trust, Bombay Patel Welfare Society, that its Covid-19 facility was functional in the new building. They stated in affidavits that a fire team had gone for inspection of the hospital building on April 30, hours before the fire broke out, but the team was shown only the old building and not the new building.
A bench of Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice Bhargav Karia asked the hospital administrator to clarify this aspect on affidavit after the hospital’s advocate refuted the claims of the authorities.
The hospital administrator has replied that the government and the Bharuch municipality seemed to have reported “inaccurate facts”. He said, “On morning of April 30, 2021, Shri Shaileshbhai Sasiya, leading fire officer of Bharuch nagarpalika, informed the deponent over the telephone at 12.12 pm that two fire officers are at Welfare Hospital.” The fire officers had come for a Covid survey, according to the administrator.
The administrator stated that Sasiya said the officers “will take some pictures/videography and that he had instructed them not to enter in the designated Covid facility/premises.”
The administrator added: “The said two officers have taken some photos/video from the old building but not visited the designated Covid facility running in the new building.”
Patel further stated, “No report or document has been given to the hospital authority for the aforesaid inspection. The mother of leading fire officer was also admitted and treated for Covid in the new building.”
The facility was in the new building of the hospital. A fire had killed 18 people in the hospital’s Covid ward on the night of April 30.
The hospital administrator, Ajaz Patel, has stated on an affidavit that the authorities and the fire team knew about the Covid facility being run in the new building. He said the mother of the leading fire officer was admitted in the same Covid ward in the new building, which was visible from the entrance of the campus. He said a huge signboard, ‘New Covid Centre’, had been placed on the new building to assure other patients that the Covid facility had been shifted from the main hospital building. The affidavit was filed on Friday.
Earlier this month, the state government and the Bharuch municipality had asserted that the authorities were not informed by the hospital trust, Bombay Patel Welfare Society, that its Covid-19 facility was functional in the new building. They stated in affidavits that a fire team had gone for inspection of the hospital building on April 30, hours before the fire broke out, but the team was shown only the old building and not the new building.
A bench of Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice Bhargav Karia asked the hospital administrator to clarify this aspect on affidavit after the hospital’s advocate refuted the claims of the authorities.
The hospital administrator has replied that the government and the Bharuch municipality seemed to have reported “inaccurate facts”. He said, “On morning of April 30, 2021, Shri Shaileshbhai Sasiya, leading fire officer of Bharuch nagarpalika, informed the deponent over the telephone at 12.12 pm that two fire officers are at Welfare Hospital.” The fire officers had come for a Covid survey, according to the administrator.
The administrator stated that Sasiya said the officers “will take some pictures/videography and that he had instructed them not to enter in the designated Covid facility/premises.”
The administrator added: “The said two officers have taken some photos/video from the old building but not visited the designated Covid facility running in the new building.”
Patel further stated, “No report or document has been given to the hospital authority for the aforesaid inspection. The mother of leading fire officer was also admitted and treated for Covid in the new building.”