PMSSY block of Kozhikode MCH gets Fire dept.’s NOC

The Fire and Rescue Services department on Tuesday gave its no-objection certificate (NOC) to the district administration over the fire safety measures installed at the surgical super-specialities, accident and emergency care block of the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, which has been temporarily closed down following two fire outbreaks in May.

This comes a day after the fire force officials plugged the leakage in the building’s underground water pipelines and installed a new pipe and fire hydrant there. According to sources, the pressure in the fire fighter line should not fall below a certain level for its automatic functioning during fire outbreaks. However, the pressure in the line had been reportedly going below the specified level quite often, leading to the malfunctioning of its motor at regular intervals. The fire force officials reportedly took around two weeks to plug the leakage in underground water pipelines, which led to the pressure level falling below the specific point. The State Electrical Inspectorate had earlier given its NOC for the functioning of the electrical system on the ground floor and first, second, third and fourth floors.

Now, a technical committee involving officials from various department led by the District Collector is expected to review these reports and propose the reopening schedule of the building constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) in the coming days. However, hospital sources indicated that the State Health department would take a final call on this. The hospital authorities were earlier planning to complete all the formalities and resume the casualty services in the building by July-end. Later, the schedule was extended to the initial weeks of August. However, the officials apparently took some time to plug the leakage in the underground water pipelines.