Electrical safety inspections being conducted at Chennai hospitals after Guindy fire incident

CHENNAI: Tangedco and public works department (PWD) personnel have begun a joint inspection of govt and private hospitals in Chennai to assess the health of electrical installations. The inspection is being conducted after a fire incident on the Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital (KCSSH) premises in Guindy which left patients suffering without power for about two hours recently.
Tangedco's power supply points to hospitals, sources of alternative supply such as generator sets, cables, power supply changeover switches and power supply to intensive care units were being checked as part of the joint inspection, said officials.
On Nov 16, power supply to the KCSSH was affected for around two hours after a fire broke out on the power cables connecting the hospital premises with Tangedco's supply point. Since the cables linked to the diesel generators were also laid in the same trench where cables of the main supply were laid, both caught fire. This prevented an auto changeover. Later, power supply was restored using the generators from the nearby National Centre for Ageing, to keep 419 patients, including 15 on ventilators, safe.
However, the incident created panic among patients and visitors to hospitals. Each operation and management assistant engineer in the field has been assigned to check all the hospitals in their respective jurisdiction along with public works department (PWD) personnel and the electrical supervisor of the hospital.
"We are checking if the auto changeover takes place for alternative power supply in case of interruptions on Tangedco's end," said an assistant executive engineer.
Superintendent engineers of Chennai North, Central, South, West and South II have sought detailed reports of the inspection on Tuesday. Rectification measures, if needed, would be initiated after discussions, said the officials.