A committee constituted by the district administration has found glaring negligence in the maintenance of infrastructure at Bikaner’s PBM Hospital where a fire broke out on Sunday. Three infants were seriously injured in the incident.
According to sources, a short-circuit occurred due to faulty electricity wires. They said that the wires were very old and had no insulators on them at most places. These wires could not carry the load which was increasing over the years in the hospital.
One of the three infants is still under observation as he sustained more burn injuries compared to the other two children.
“The main cause of the fire seems to be the heavy load on the age-old electricity wires which resulted in short circuit,” said additional district magistrate K M Dudiya. He said the wires of the hospital were not changed after the construction of the hospital. The ADM told TOI that he visited the hospital on Sunday along with two other members of the committee and inspected the equipment as well as supply lines.
A member of the committee, Ajay Kapoor, told TOI that machines and equipment have not been damaged, though these have turned black due to smoke and fire. He said technicians from the concerned companies have been called for detailed inspection and actual data of loss will come out only after their report.
Meanwhile, technical experts have expressed the need for immediate replacement of wires used for power supply. In their opinion, the present wires are not meant to resist heavy power load for running of equipment like Air-Conditioning Plant, X-Ray Machines, Warmer Radiators, Computers etc. Besides this, there is no system of periodical checking of power supply system. Although there is a separate electrical wing in PBM Hospital, it is not working properly due to shortage of staff.
Satish Kachchawa, superintendent, told TOI that more beds have been provided in the nursery of women’s hospital branch to help the children shifted from the children’s hospital branch.
Dr. Kachchawa said that two infants are out of danger now. The third one is still under close observation as he was the most affected.
src: TOI