Bhubaneswar, March 19 (). Following the tragic fire incident at Cuttack’s SCB Medical College and Hospital on March 16, in which 12 patients officially lost their lives, four people, including three fire department officials and an engineer, have been suspended for dereliction of duty.
Meanwhile, opposition parties BJD and Congress intensified protests both inside and outside the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday. They are demanding the resignation of Health Minister Dr. Mukesh Mahaling.
Following a probe into allegations of negligence, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has already ordered suspension of four officials. These officers have been identified as Prakash Kumar Jena (Deputy Fire Officer, Cuttack Circle), Sanjeev Kumar Behera (Assistant Fire Officer, Cuttack Circle), Abhinav Prusti (Station Officer, SCB Medical College and Hospital), and Ranjan Kumar Biswal (Assistant Executive Engineer, SCB Sub-Division, GED, Cuttack).
It is noteworthy that the Chief Minister had earlier constituted a six-member ‘fact-finding team’ under the chairmanship of Development Commissioner Devranjan Kumar Singh to investigate the cause of the fire incident at SCB Medical College, Cuttack.
The state government had also constituted a one-member judicial inquiry commission headed by retired district judge Laxmidhar Biswal.
This commission has been directed to submit its report within 60 days from the date of publication of the notification in the Odisha Gazette.
This commission was mandated to investigate the sequence of events leading to the fire; To determine the role, conduct and accountability of the persons or officials involved; To assess the preparedness of hospitals and other agencies to deal with such incidents; And has been entrusted with the task of examining the effectiveness of the steps taken before and after the incident to save the lives of patients.
The government has also asked the commission to give suggestions to prevent recurrence of such tragedies in future.
According to reports, between 2 am and 3 am on Monday night, a massive fire broke out in the ICU of the ‘Trauma Care Centre’ of SCB Medical College due to an electrical short circuit.
A total of 12 patients died in this fire.
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