Pune, Aug. 25 -- The deaths of three newborns in a fire at Amravati District Women's Hospital on Monday have exposed a critical gap in Maharashtra's government hospitals, where passing a fire audit or installing safety equipment does not necessarily mean effective disaster preparedness on the ground. Amravati district collector Ashish Yerekar said the hospital was compliant with regular audits and had applied for a fresh audit with the public works department's electrical wing. "The fire audit for last year was conducted, and they have also applied for this year's fire audit with the PWD electrical wing. I have seen the documents myself, so it is not the case that the fire audit was skipped," Yerekar said. The incident has now raised questions about the functioning and maintenance of fire alarms, sprinklers, extinguishers, electrical systems, and medical equipment in critical-care areas. The incident assumes significance against the backdrop of the state public health department's latest fire-safety data. A report dated August 13, a copy of which Hindustan Times exclusively accessed and reviewed, shows that 528 of 530 operational public health institutions had undergone fire audits. However, fire-safety system installation had been completed at only 442 institutions, and just 372 had obtained fire No-Objection Certificates (NOCs). The report shows that all 18 public health institutions listed under Amravati had undergone fire audits and completed fire-safety system installation, while 16 had obtained fire NOCs. The figures also reveal sharp district-wise differences. In Pune, all 31 operational public health institutions had undergone fire audits and completed fire-safety system installation, but only four had obtained fire NOCs. The district conducted 52 mock drills in 2024. In Beed, all 18 institutions had undergone fire audits, but none had completed fire-safety system installation or obtained a fire NOC. In Bhandara, nine of 10 institutions had completed installation and obtained NOCs. Yerekar said the investigation would focus on the equipment suspected to have triggered the fire and whether there had been any administrative or maintenance lapse. "Our main issue here is the equipment, specifically the unit that triggered the automatic alert, and we need to examine what fault lies within it. We have already initiated our investigation. If any administrative lapse comes to light, no one will be spared," Yerekar said. Health activists said Amravati deaths raise a larger question about what fire-safety compliance actually guarantees. "An audit can establish whether systems have been installed and whether a facility meets prescribed requirements at the time of inspection. It cannot, by itself, guarantee that a fire alarm, sprinkler, electrical system, medical device, or emergency response mechanism will function months later," said Sharad Shetty, a health activist who has been a whistleblower in exposing the irregularities in the health department....