Cuttack, Oct. 22: The fire services department has confirmed that the authorities of Sum hospital had ignored the prescribed norms to make emergency calls to the fire control room following the major fire that claimed 21 lives on Monday.

A department official said the hospital was late in calling up the fire department.

It has decided to conduct fire safety mock drills in various hospitals, cinemas and other public places to sensitise people and minimising loss of life and property in case of such mishaps in the future.

Director-general of fire services Binay Behera said the control room of his department received the first call from the hospital around 7.30pm on Monday after the fire broke out in its Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

"In case of any emergency situation, reaction and response time are crucial. On the day of the incident we got the first distress call almost 45 minutes to one hour late. Had we had got the information on time, many precious lives could possibly have been saved," said Behera.

Reacting to allegations that the hospital was running without valid fire safety clearances since 2013, Behera said the department was not the competent authority in issuing licences and had sent back the application of the hospital as they fell short of various conditions with regard to fire safety norms.

"It is particularly difficult for us to know which hospital or nursing home is operating without necessary clearances. Even the Odisha Fire Services Act does not permit us to close down such institutions operating without necessary fire safety clearances," said Behera. He added that the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) would be requested to provide a list of the hospitals that have not got fire clearances.

Official sources said that at present only nine hospitals in Odisha have been issued necessary fire safety clearances. The fire services department had received applications for no-objection certificates from 271 hospitals including 194 in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

So far, the applications of as many as 244 hospitals and nursing homes have been rejected on the ground that such institutions do not meet the prescribed norms or have not taken measures for fire safety on their respective premises.

The department conducted a fire safety mock drill at Apollo Hospital in Bhubaneswar yesterday and other hospitals in the twin cities.

Other public places will be covered in the coming days. Fire personnel from Bhubaneswar and other parts of the state attended the safety drill.