As many as 15 hospitals have been sealed by the Thane civic body in Maharashtra for flouting fire safety norms, an official has said. The action came after the Bombay High Court last month directed the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) to seal all private hospitals and nursing homes operating without a no- objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department.

The court issued the directive while hearing plea claiming that according to a survey conducted by the Thane fire department earlier this year, more than 50 per cent of the private hospitals and nursing homes here were ill-equipped to deal with fire incidents. TMC's chief fire officer Sashikant Kale on Wednesday said following the court's directive, they sealed 15 hospitals in the city in the last couple of days.