GOOD-Bad-Ugly

This is the tale of a horrific hospital accident, a consequence of two officers' avarice. Motivated by envy and vengeance, they recklessly disregarded scientifically-backed safety protocols put in place by a knowledgeable and upright officer, all for the sake of illicit payments from suppliers of obsolete machinery. Due to such rogue officer's Greed and malice, How hospitals in AP are in total confusion and disarray?!

The acrid smell of burning plastic hit Dr. Meera Sharma like a physical blow. It clawed at her throat, a harbinger of the chaos that was rapidly consuming St. Jude's Hospital. Just moments ago, the hum of routine had enveloped the ward, but now, alarms blared, lights flickered erratically, and a thick, black haze was snaking its way through the corridors. A fire had ignited on the sixth floor.

Meera yelled instructions, directing nurses to evacuate patients, grabbing the most critical herself. But even as she moved, a sickening realization washed over her: the supposedly robust fire safety system of St. Jude's was utterly failing.

The fire doors, touted as automatic, were jammed, their hydraulics whining feebly. She raced to a wet riser, her heart pounding with a desperate hope. But the nozzle coughed out a pathetic trickle of water before dying completely. She tried the down comer, same result. Frustration turned to a cold, nauseating fear. This was no isolated malfunction; this was a systemic failure.

She remembered Jagatap, the former fire safety officer, a man who’d meticulously insisted on modern, scientifically backed solutions: smoke detectors that could not be easily disabled, ventilation systems designed to funnel smoke away from escape routes, and a focus on preventing the root causes of fires - electrical faults and improper oxygen storage. His regulations, she'd heard, had been rigorous, demanding, and effective but very economical and user friendly addressing root causes which could cost just 1lac for small and 3lacs for medium size and 5lacs for big hospitals.  

(Proper grounding &earthing& usage of FRLS cables(no extra cost for hospital owners.For heavy duty appliances EACH 180METER ROLL COSTS JUST 3500/-) ,Clean Agent Based Gas Flooding System for electric panel safety( electric panels usually present in cellars of   BIG HOSPITALS), Exhaust fans on either side of the closed corridors (Costs just 10000/- for 5 exhaust fans), lifts with exhaust fans and  AIRCONDITIONED ICU WARDS with smoke extraction system or minimum two exhaust fans and second emergency exit' are few scientifically validated ,practical and economical safety measures (also suggested by NBC) jagatap stipulated depending on height of the building and services of the hospital)

But then had come the JCP regime, bringing with them Ajay and Vineel. They had, with baffling speed, annulled Jagatap’s regulations. They'd replaced them with outdated, clunky, and ultimately useless systems like these clogged risers and sprinklers that hadn’t even activated. Everyone whispered of inflated contracts, kickbacks, and cozy deals with vendors pushing overpriced, ineffective equipment. The hospital had spent a staggering 30 to 40 lakh rupees on this so-called "upgrade," a figure that now seemed like a tragic joke.

Meera pushed through the swirling smoke, urging patients forward, her eyes burning. The thick smoke, the real enemy, was disorienting, filled with toxic fumes. She watched a young nurse stumble, coughing violently, unable to see. There was no smoke extraction system, the safety net designed to clear the air, simply hadn't been installed as per Jagatap's previous GOs. She knew that many others would be suffering the same fate. This was not a fire; it was a slaughterhouse built with negligence and corruption.

She reached the emergency exit, finally, only to find it partially blocked by a storage cart filled with oxygen cylinders. A surge of pure, unadulterated rage coursed through her. Jagatap’s regulations had included protocols for meticulous oxygen cylinder management; protocols specifically designed to prevent exactly this scenario. But the JCP regime had deemed them too "burdensome."

As she and a handful of nurses struggled to move the cart, she heard it – the awful, chilling sound of someone trapped and screaming. A young man, a visitor, was caught in the hallway back in the depths of the inferno, surrounded by smoke, barely visible.

She tried to go back, but nurse Rajitha pulled her back. "Doctor, we can't. The smoke...it's too thick. We need to save the ones we can."

The helpless screams echoed around them, a grim soundtrack to their escape.

Outside, the sirens wailed, finally arriving. Firefighters, faces grim, rushed into the burning building, their own equipment, she knew, often battling shoddy hospital infrastructure.

As the fire burned itself out, casting long, skeletal shadows across the sky, the damage was appalling. Six lives were lost. Six souls snuffed out because of greed and indifference. They would be labeled as collateral damage in an accident. But Meera knew better; it was a massacre, orchestrated by those who valued profits over human lives.

In the aftermath, the usual investigations would be launched, the blame would be deflected. But Meera, amongst the wreckage and the grief, held onto a steely resolve. The names Ajay and Vineel, the names of those who’d chosen profit over lives, would not be forgotten. The image of the young man trapped in the smoke, the pathetic trickle of water from the clogged risers, and the blocked escape routes were etched into her memory. She would not let their deaths be in vain. She would fight to bring Jagatap back, fight to reinstate the regulations that could have saved them, fight to ensure that St. Jude’s - and every other hospital - was a place of healing, not a death trap. The fight for justice, she knew, had just begun.