AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court was approached on Monday for action against authorities concerned for not implementing the fire safety law after a fire incident in a commercial complex near Parimal Garden on Saturday endangered lives.
About 75 people and 13 newborns had to be rescued from a children’s hospital after the fire broke out.
The application was filed by advocate Amit Panchal, who had filed a PIL in 2020 after a fire tragedy claimed the lives of eight Covid-19 patients in Shrey Hospital.
Following the PIL filed on Monday, the high court issued numerous directions to the authorities to make all hospitals compliant with fire safety regulations.
In his application, advocate Panchal has urged the high court to call for a report on the fire incident at Dev Complex that houses the children’s hospital, which also witnessed a similar incident in 2019.
The applicant has sought directions against the authorities of all eight municipal corporations for not complying with the directions issued by the high court and the Supreme Court last year on fire prevention measures in hospitals.
He has urged the court to impose a penalty on the officials responsible for the fire.
The applicant also urged the court to direct the state government to immediately frame rules for implementation of the Gujarat Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act. This law was adopted during the course of hearing on Panchal’s PIL for safety measures in hospital buildings, but the absence of the rules has made the legislation non-effective. The high court has posted the hearing on this application on June 30.
