Odisha CM, health minister under fire over hospital blaze
BHUBANESWAR: The owner of an Odisha hospital, where 21 people died and more than 100 were injured in a massive blaze, was arrested on Thursday amid growing outrage over flouted safety norms that likely increased the death toll.
Manoj Ranjan Nayak — who rose from a humble computer science teacher to a successful entrepreneur — turned himself in amid growing calls for the sacking of health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, a confidant of chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
Atanu is under pressure because of allegations — repeated by Union health minister JP Nadda on Wednesday — that SUM hospital in Bhubaneswar did not have fire safety clearances and violated guidelines that aggravated injuries and deaths during Monday’s fire.
Atanu is also said to have close ties with Manoj, whose meteoric rise is said to be because of his proximity to the ruling Biju Janata Dal.
“We have arrested him (Manoj) under sections 304, 308, 285 and 34 of Indian Penal Code,” said Bhubaneswar police commissioner YB Khurania. Most of the sections are non-bailable.
But Opposition leaders say the blame for the state’s biggest hospital disaster should rest with the chief minister.
They say the blaze occurred because of poor fire safety guidelines and lax implementation, a responsibility of the fire department that reports to the home ministry headed by Patnaik.
The director general of fire services that inspected the hospital after the mishap found the premises deficient on several counts of fire safety precautions, including a lack of a sprinkler system, fire detection system, fire hydrant point and terrace water tank — all of which were recommended by the fire services wing in 2013.
“The CM has to answer what prevented him from taking action against the hospital in the last three years,” said senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra. Sources allege that despite the lack of a mandatory fire safety certificate, the hospital’s licence to operate under the Orissa Clinical Establishments (Control and Regulation) Act, 2012, was renewed in April for two years.
But the rot within the firesafety system extends far beyond SUM hospital, experts say. Government data shows only four of the 572 registered private hospitals and nursing homes in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri have mandatory fire safety certificates.