Jaipur: Following the death of seven students due to collapse of govt school building in Jhalawar, the health department Tuesday issued comprehensive guidelines to hospitals, instructing them to inspect for wall cracks, exposed steel reinforcements in roofs, damaged stone slabs and other structural defects. Healthcare facilities statewide must remain vigilant to ensure the safety of patients and staff.The department has prohibited all treatment and storage activities with immediate effect in these compromised structures to prevent accidents and loss of life. It has decided to display notices reading “jarjar bhawan, pravesh nishedh” on deteriorating buildings requiring repairs.The recent partial collapse at Bikaner Medical College, though without casualties, served as a warning signal for the govt to take preventive action.A senior health official said, “The guidelines have been issued covering almost all the aspects regarding the safety of the buildings. Directions have been issued to ensure all the safety measures of hospital buildings.”The walls should not have cracks and seepages, the health department told all the chief medical health officers and principal medical officers of the govt hospitals. Steel rods in the RCC roof should not be exposed from concrete.Since many of the hospital buildings in the rural areas have roofs made of stone slabs, the directions have been issued to ensure that the slabs do not have cracks. Roofs of the hospitals should have proper drainage to ensure that water does not stagnate on the rooftops to prevent seepages. Rooftops should be checked for any unwanted growth of plants. The health department will coordinate with the public works department for timely repair of the building. The officials have been asked to utilise funds of the Medical Relief Society of the hospitals for the repair of the buildings.
