Today, the Supreme Court halted the Gujarat government’s effort to relax hospital building safety regulations in the wake of the Covid outbreak, saying, “To save lives in the epidemic, we are murdering people with fire.” On July 8, a Gujarat decision noted that no action would be taken against constructions that did not have “Building Use Permission“ until March of the following year.
The Gujarat government has said that this announcement does not imply that fire safety clearance standards have been eased. We are murdering individuals by fire in an attempt to save humanity from a pandemic “According to the Supreme Court, A lawsuit involving fires at hospitals where Covid patients were treated was being heard in court.
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Six patients died in Rajkot’s Uday Shivanand Hospital in November. According to PTI, the fire originated in the ICU, and the inquiry pointed to hospital carelessness. Another hospital fire in Bharuch killed 18 people in May. The Gujarat government counsel was informed by Justice MR Shah: “Have you seen the state of intensive care units? In modest rooms, there are 7-8 beds. We are not giving any directives to the ICUs since we are in an emergency scenario. However, if the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) guidelines were followed, 80 percent of ICUs would have to close.”
Despite these events, the state was chastised by the Supreme Court for attempting to loosen safety regulations for hospital structures. The government could not tolerate such unlawful structures, according to Justice DY Chandrachud.
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