Nothing can be as unfortunate for parents as losing their children even before making together ever-lasting happy memories. The fire in the Bhandara District Hospital's neonatal care unit claimed the lives of 10 newborns who didn't rest for long in their mothers' laps because of their critical medical conditions. The mothers sat outside the care unit, waiting for the babies to get fit to travel home. However, the infants made their last journey before making their way home. The incident has yet again raised questions about our system's willpower and ability to avoid a trauma that the country is often subjected to.

A pan-India phenomenon

There have been several incidents of hospitals catching fire in the past decade. It's a pan-India phenomenon. Last year, Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Vijayawada reported over 20 deaths in fire. Kolkata's 95 deaths in 2011 remains one of the scariest incidents. Two years ago, 11 patients died in the fire at ESIC Hospital in Marol. Several instances of structures other than hospitals catching fire have also been reported in Mumbai, rest of Maharashtra and the country in the recent past. The state government had woken up from deep slumber after the ESIC hospital incident which revealed that the building was refused the Fire Department's no objection certificate because the equipment was not up to the mark and a lot of irregularities were found. Now, the Mumbai civic authorities have swung into action after the Bhandara fire and are verifying hospitals, clinics and nursing homes in its jurisdiction. The entire state machinery has been asked to step up efforts to audit hospitals for fire safety, structural stability and electrical maintenance. There is nothing extraordinary about issuing such instruction and enforcement. What our machinery lacks is consistency in doing such crucial jobs, that if not accomplished claims more lives. The job is not just about hospitals, but extends to all structures that need to be protected from deadly fires.