All private hospitals and nursing homes in Ganjam district have been directed to produce fire safety certificates by November-end.
Ganjam District Collector P C Choudhary has issued such an order in the wake of the major fire in the SUM Hospital in Bhubaneswar which has so far claimed 24 lives.
The owners of the hospitals and nursing homes should obtain the fire safety certificates from the competent authorities after tha latter conduct the audit of fire safety measures, he said.
The Opposition also raised questions about lack of fire safety measures in hospitals across the state.
The collector has warned action against the owners of the nursing homes/ hospitals if they fail to submit the certificates before the deadline.
As many as 90 registered hospitals and nursing homes are functioning in the district, most of them in Berhampur. At least 10 others have applied for registration to start operation, officials said.
It is also demanded that the government conduct a fresh audit of the fire safety measures in all hospitals, both private and government.
Chief district medical officer Manoj Behera said private hospitals will get NOC to start functioning when they submit the fire safety certificate.
He, however, admitted that the fire safety audit could not be conducted in the private hospitals from time to time.
"We could not audit the fire safety measures in the private hospitals during the raids due to the absence of fire officers in the inspection squad," he said.
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