Plaster peeling off, a leaky roof, and dampness covering the walls: the state of disrepair at Jaipur's SMS hospital's Trauma Center, where a fire broke out Sunday night, is on display.
A short circuit is considered the cause of the fire incident at the trauma centre that claimed six lives. Why the short circuit happened is still an unanswered question.
The government has appointed a six-member committee to investigate the fire accident at the hospital.
During a visit to SMS hospital, the NDTV found that water was dripping from the ceilings and dampness had covered the walls and floors. Even on the first floor, the roof is leaking outside the neurology surgical ward. At one spot, NDTV found a pot placed by the staff to collect the water dripping from the walls.
In room number 203, the ICU-1 ward adjacent to the ward where the fire broke out, the walls are wet due to water leakage.
An official, who didn't want to be named, told NDTV that several times people have received electric jolts due to this dampness. "It's dangerous for patients and us too, but no one listens," he said.
The hospital administration was informed about these things, said the official.
The nodal officer, Dr Anurag Dhakad, who has now been removed from the post by the government, wrote letters to the superintendent complaining about the situation.
On September 8 and 9, he wrote to the superintendent stating that "water is leaking in the walls due to the construction work of OT happening on the roof top and rain. Due to this leakage, current is flowing in the operation theatre walls and switchboards, which can lead to an accident. In this ward, critical patients are treated, which makes the situation more vulnerable. Please ask the department concerned to get these things corrected".
Again, on 3rd October, two days before the incident, the Nodal officer wrote a letter to the superintendent, in which he informed that "due to construction work, VRV machines, duct and electric boards can be damaged due to the debris of construction work".
On July 31, the nursing superintendent of the trauma center wrote a letter to repair the ceiling at the trauma center.
"I will always keep the government informed. If there is a possibility of any kind of accident, then it is my responsibility to inform the higher officials and I informed the state government. I had written a letter to the government regarding the possibility of an accident," said Dr Anurag Dhakad.
(Bite on PTI)
Despite these warnings, no action was taken in time.
In the ward number 206, on bed number 6, a patient, Zaheer, who underwent leg surgery and was shifted to this ward on August 12, told NDTV that in front of his bed, the roof is leaking since his admission here. Doctors come for taking round every day, but no one has acted on it yet, said the patient.
Brother of Pintu, who died in the accident, complained that no alarm went off when the fire broke out.
NDTV team found no sprinklers on that floor.
The team found only one fireman and a helper on duty and even they were not well equipped.
NDTV tried to contact the Chief Fire Officer Gautam Lal to ask about the arrangements in place at the hospital. He has not responded to the request for a comment.