Since Vadodara's first case of COVID19 in March 2020, four cases of fire had been reported until June 1 at COVID hospitals in the city. Yet, the corporation, for more than a year, was largely indifferent to these recurrent cases of fires until after the Gujarat High Court sought affidavits from authorities in connection to a PIL filed by Advocate Amit Panchal on measures taken by the government after fire incidents at COVID19 hospitals. Recently, on May 29, Vadodara's Municipal Commissioner suspended the permission of 125 COVID hospitals over fire NoC. These 125 hospitals, as per the notification, have been disallowed to admit COVID patients until an NoC is issued. The Commissioner further added that if a hospital was found to be treating COVID patients without a fire NoC, they would be liable for strict action. However, these steps only came as a follow-up to the HC's statement of "fixing responsibility on the officers". A review of fire incidents in Vadodara over the last year draw

Author-Raveena