Could Walker Hospital have been saved ?
By K.L. Noatay

THE Military Hospital at Shimla, popularly known as Walker Hospital, had a fire accident on the night of December 22. The fire reportedly started at 1.55 a.m. from a electric short circuit in the main switch board located at a central point of the main (affected) building of the hospital. The building has been reduced to rubble. A number of adjoining buildings like Conference Hall, Guest House, Petrol Dump, Family Quarters and Officers Mess have, however, been saved.

Immediately on noticing the electric sparks in the main switch board, the night guard is reported to have raised the alarm to alert all concerned about the occurrence. The local fire-brigade was also soon alerted for controlling the fire.

The fire-brigade took nearly 30 minutes to arrive on the scene. Five fire tenders of the Himachal Fire Service and one of the Army itself reached the hospital, but they could hardly save the main building, as it had been gutted almost completely within the first 15 minutes of the short-circuit. Unfortunately, the fire-hydrant of the area was covered with a huge stack of rubble. The hospital troops took some time to clear the rubble and operate the fire tenders. Further, the hydrant did not have enough pressure to fill the fire tenders with sufficient promptitude.

The Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police, Shimla, had arrived on the scene without much delay, but were rather helpless in doing much because of the poor functioning of the fire hydrant. It has also been reported that the policemen detailed for assisting the Army authorities did little to fight the fire.

An eye-witness account has it that the flames had leapt up almost instantly. Nevertheless, the hospital staff bravely retained their poise. They acted effectively and resolutely, without caring for the safety of their own lives. They first rescued the 20 indoor patients. Then they started taking out vital documents and precious removable equipment one by one. These were dumped in the open compound of the building engulfed in ferocious flames. Since the compound was small and the burning building emitted tremendous heat, the things salvaged too got charred.

The hospital staff made a heroic effort in severing the inter-connecting passages and porches between the main building and Officers Mess, Conference Hall etc to save the adjoining buildings from getting engulfed in the devastating flames. They also successfully removed most of the oxygen gas cylinders. This prompt action helped save a number of other buildings of the hospital.

The loss of the main building is assessed at nearly Rs 3 crore. The value of the gutted equipment was also the same.

The British establishment located at Shimla had felt the necessity of a good hospital for the ruling class working here in 1896. J.L. Walker, a banker, had offered to donate the required building. The present site was accordingly selected and the building was raised and completed by 1902. The hospital was converted into a Military Hospital in 1954. Since then, the hospital has rendered invaluable service to the troops located or deployed from Subathu to Kuarik. Initially, the capacity was of 20 beds. The number of beds was raised to 100, gradually. The hospital had been catering to medical treatment of the ex-servicemen also.

All those who have been treated at the hospital feel terrible about the mishap. The maintenance of such a fine institution was an extremely laborious and time-consuming task. Colonel Anju Manchanda, VSM, the Commanding Officer of the hospital since 1995, is stated to have taken immense pains during her tenure to equip the hospital with the latest medical and surgical equipment, as also a variety of items of entertainment like TV, Channel Music System in all wards of the patients as well as the messes and the living lines of the troops. The hospital had been equipped with the latest medical reference books too. The premises were beautified with flowering plants, bushes and a variety of decorative items as well.

It is to the credit of the C.O. and her team of officers and men that the patients undergoing treatment in the hospital were not only rescued unscathed, but also shifted to Section Military Hospital in Jatogh cantonment.

The officers and the troops of the hospital had, during the past 45 years, raised a lot of regimental assets, worth lakhs of rupees, out of their own contributions. These too have been razed to the ground. The patients and troops living in the hospital are reported to have lost all their belongings in the fire.

It has been learnt that the sparking in the main switch board, which caused the accident, had been noticed earlier too and had been reported to the maintenance engineers. The engineers had been trying to repair the defective electric installation but the defect had unfortunately persisted, ultimately resulting in the major mishap.

Further, the preparedness of the fire-brigade of the town has been not found up to the mark in the past, resulting in the gutting of many historical buildings like the Peterhof, Kennedy House, Wild Flower Hall and Western Command. The media has also, from time to time, highlighted the unsatisfactory fire-fighting arrangements in the town, but to no avail.

The firemen say that their task is made difficult by the extremely narrow roads and lanes of the town. Moreover, the 700 old fire hydrants from the British era are almost non-functional. New ones have not yet installed, there is little coordination with the Municipal water keyman, and the sheds for fire-engines. The quarters of the firemen do not have proximity to the building.

A general feeling, therefore, is that the MH fire could have been averted, had the electric circuits been foolproof and fire hydrants been readily available with full pressure of water supply.

Under the circumstances, one can only hope that the authorities in charge of the maintenance of buildings and the upkeep of the fire-fighting machinery will take steps to upgrade their machinery to tackle fire accidents in future.