Year of AMRI fire, most Kolkata hospitals have NOC

, Dec 10:

and emergency services minister Javed Ahmed Khan said on Sunday that about 90 per cent of hospitals in Kolkata were given no-objection certificates (

) to operate. Sunday marked the first anniversary of the horrendous fire at the city's AMRI Hospital, which had left 90 persons dead.

The minister said the city hospitals were streamlined into following the rules through a little guidance and assistance from officials. He said earlier most hospitals did not have the fire-fighting equipment in order but now 90 per cent of them have received NOC from the fire advisory committee.

Smaller medical institutes, however, did not need to affect much changes but they were seriously hampered by space constraints, the minister said. He said space constraint is the biggest challenge to the smaller establishments.

He said the time limit can be extended for the errant establishments to comply with the norms but nobody would be allowed to fiddle with the law. The minister warned that if anybody failed to comply with the rule after the stipulated time and extension, they might be forced to close down their services.

OneIndia News