Two held for Virar hospital fire as more irregularities emerge

Officials inside the charred remains of the ICU ward at Vijay Vallabh Hospital. Pics/Hanif Patel

Two directors of Virar-based Vijay Vallabh Hospital, where 15 COVID patients died of asphyxiation in a pre-dawn fire on Friday, were arrested on Sunday as the hospital failed to get its fire safety audit done and its fire NOC had expired in March. The arrested accused, Managing Director and CEO Dr. Dilip Shah and Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Shailesh Pathak, were produced before the holiday court and remanded in a day's police custody.

Dr Dilip Shah, managing director and CEO of the hospital and Dr Shailesh Pathak, chief administrative officer

MID-DAY highlighted in an exclusive report on Sunday that the hospital's fire NOC expired on March 13. A senior police officer told mid-day that the hospital never got its fire risk audit report in place to secure an NOC from the fire department.

While Dr Shah and Dr Pathak are partners of the hospital, Dr. Shah's father Bastimal Shah, is the third partner. He accused the police of illegally detaining the two doctors on the hospital premises. "The police told my son (Dr. Shah) and Dr. Pathak not to leave the premises and they were kept under illegal detention," Bastimal said. "Both of them are doctors but they were treated like criminals. After the tragic incident, the hospital is in a messy condition yet both doctors were forced to stay inside the premises where mosquitoes have been a great nuisance. I arranged a mosquito net for him," Bastimal added.

"With the air-conditioning closed, they were forced to stay in the heat and did not get sound sleep," Bastimal added. "Police mentally harassed them before arresting them on Sunday. My house is hardly a few minutes away from the hospital, the police could have allowed Dr Shah to stay there," Bastimal said.

‘Claims are false'

However, a crime branch officer said, "We asked both directors of the hospital to stay there as a number of teams from different departments including police, municipality and power had been visiting the site to expedite the investigation. They were not mentally or physically tortured. The allegations are false."

Vijay Vallabh Hospital's ICU ward before the fire

"We wanted them to stay to assist in the investigation and respond to our queries as there was a continuous flow of officials. We, too, were present in the hospital premises," the officer clarified. Another crime branch officer said, "The hospital never got their fire risk audit done."

mid-day also learnt that the hospital secured its fire NOC from Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) without getting a fire risk audit after the three partners started running the hospital in May 2018.

Sources said that the Directorate of Maharashtra Fire Service has formed a team to investigate the case. It will visit the hospital soon. Police have also asked the team to help them understand the technicalities involved in acquiring a fire NOC and the importance of fire risk audit.

A senior crime branch officer said, "If VVCMC officials are found to be involved in irregularities in issuing the fire NOC, we will book them too."

Officials from the energy department conducted a survey. "The team was trying to determine how the explosion took place inside the AC unit. They took details of when and from where the AC unit was purchased, if it was overloaded, etc. They took dimensions of the ICU to understand if the three ACs were sufficient. They checked each and every electrical appliance, cable size, switch gear, panel boards, etc. as per the Electricity Rules and Electricity Act," Bastimal said.

Bastimal Shah

Bastimal added that he was asleep when Dr Shah's wife called to inform him about the fire. "Dr. Shah lives in Kandivli with his family and Dr. Pathak lives in Mira Road. Both of them were home when the incident took place," Basitmal said.

"My daughter-in-law called around 2.40 am. By the time I reached the hospital, one fire engine was there and the patients were being rescued and the fire was doused," he recalled.

‘No negligence on our part'

"The AC which exploded was recently repaired. There was no negligence on the hospital's part, a spark caused a major disaster. No amount of fire extinguishers or fire NOC could have averted the incident which happened in a fraction of a second. It is true that there were no sprinklers inside the ICU," Bastimal said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dr. Mahesh Patil told mid-day, "We have recorded the statements of eight people including hospital staff and others connected to the incident. We have been conducting a thorough investigation which is in full swing."

The investigation that led to the arrests in 48 hours has been one of the swiftest. Crime Branch sources said that private agency, RAV Fire Services, which was hired by the hospital to give Fire Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) has not been given a clean chit yet.

"The role of RAV Fire Services is not seen anywhere as per the documents provided by them," an officer said. The police have also sent CCTV camera footage from the hospital to the Forensic Science Laboratory.

The hospital also did not submit its Form B, related to maintenance of fire safety, with the fire department in January. "When we asked the directors, they said they were busy in COVID work, but this is an excuse. We have gathered enough evidence in the past two days," an officer said.

2.40 am
Time the Virar hospital's third partner Bastimal Shah got a call about the fire