Jabalpur tragedy painful, such incident should not happen again, says CM

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said here on Tuesday the fire accident in Jabalpur's New Life Hospital is very painful. Such arrangements should be ensured that such incidents do not happen again in the state, as per officials.

CM said action should be taken by registering a case of culpable homicide against the hospital management found guilty in the incident. He also directed authorities to suspend the CMHO and fire safety officer responsible for the incident.

CM’s observation and instructions came during a review meeting on the fire incident in Jabalpur through a video conferencing at Mantralaya.

Urban Administration and Development minister Bhupendra Singh, Medical Education minister Vishwas Sarang, Public Health and Family Welfare minister Dr Prabhuram Choudhary, Panchayat and Rural Development minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia, chief secretary Iqbal Singh Bains, additional chief secretary Health Mohammad Suleman along with other officials concerned were present.

Commissioner Jabalpur and district administration officials joined through video conferencing.

CM said hospitals should be checked in the entire state including Jabalpur. “If the fire safety system is found to be lacking, the licences of the hospitals should be cancelled”, he said.

He said fire NOC, building permission and electrical safety are necessary to prevent accidents.

CM said immediate and long-term steps should be taken to change the fire safety policy by learning lessons from the incident. “Take action to implement uniform rules for fire safety in hospitals, hotels and multi buildings. He also directed the concerned departments to conduct joint inspections”, he instructed.