No compliance to safety rules by Virar hospital, reveals electricity department report

One of the three AC cassettes inside the ICU exploded, causing the fire on April 23. Pic/Hanif Patel

The investigation into the pre-dawn fire at the 17-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Vijay Vallabh Hospital in Virar has revealed that the air-conditioning units installed by the hospital's management were not sufficient for the area.

"The management failed to install air-conditioning units having sufficient capacity to bear the load of the ICU. The ICU required ACs with a 13- to 15-ton capacity but the management had installed ACs having capacity of only nine ton," said an officer privy to the investigation.

Three cassette ACs were installed inside the ICU, out of which one exploded causing a fire last month. The AC had been repaired by a local mechanic recently, the third partner of the hospital, Bastimal Shah told mid-day.

"Total 50 ACs were installed at the hospital, which is a ground-plus-four-storey building. Total three cassette ACs were installed at the ICU to meet the requirement. The one which exploded was purchased in 2015 and it was recently repaired by a local mechanic. The dimension of the ICU is 48x32x9 cubic-ft and at its centre, there were three cabins of dimension 10x20x9 cubic-ft. The nine feet height of the false ceiling was uniform everywhere to keep up the cooling," Bastimal told mid-day.

Police further revealed that 14 out of 20 fire extinguishers were out of order. "It is clear that the managing director and CEO Dr Dilip Shah and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Dr Shailesh Pathak were running the hospital to make money by risking patients lives as the fire-fighting systems were not updated after the contract with the private fire agency RAV Fire Services was ended in March," said another senior officer from Crime Branch.

"The report of electricity department reveals that there was no compliance by Vijay Vallabh Hospital with respect to safety measures and supply of electricity," the officer said.

The investigating team produced all reports before Additional Sessions Judge Aditee U Kadam at Vasai Sessions Court to oppose the bail application of Dr Pathak and Dr Shah, who are in judicial custody.

Judge Kadam took note of the Crime Branch's report and observed that the investigation is at ‘pre-matured stage' while hearing the ABA. "Most of the investigation is based on technicalities and the information of the same is locked in the mind of applicants. If they are released on bail, [the] possibility that they may tamper with the prosecution evidence cannot be ruled out. Considering all these aspects this court is of the view that the applicants are not entitled for the relief and the application stands rejected," ordered Additional Sessions Judge Kadam last week.

2015
Year the AC which exploded was installed in the ICU