E-Paper
Water crisis hits SRNH?s functioning
Routine functioning has been seriously affected and over two dozen major surgeries have been cancelled in the last 24 hours due to serious water crisis at the Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital (SRNH). The Emergency and OPD services are also getting affected due to shortage of water for cleaning wounds and washing hands. On Wednesday alone, 17 orthopaedic surgeries were cancelled due to the same reason. Many patients have started migrating to other hospitals in the absence of water supply in the wards.
Routine functioning has been seriously affected and over two dozen major surgeries have been cancelled in the last 24 hours due to serious water crisis at the Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital (SRNH). The Emergency and OPD services are also getting affected due to shortage of water for cleaning wounds and washing hands. On Wednesday alone, 17 orthopaedic surgeries were cancelled due to the same reason.
Many patients have started migrating to other hospitals in the absence of water supply in the wards. The junior doctors are forced to bring water buckets at the OPD for washing hands after attending patients. The PG doctors' hostel mess also remained closed for two days due to water crisis. Insanitary condition is prevailing in the general wards as the water supply is stopped after 7.30 am.
The attendants are being forced to bring water from hand pump outside the hospital.
"We are washing hands from water fetched from outside in buckets as there is no water supply in the OPD for the last 20-25 days. There is also no supply in Ward No 14 and 16. Our hostel mess also remained closed due to the water shortage. Many major surgeries have either been cancelled or postponed due to it," said president of Junior Doctors' Association, Dr Phul Kumar.
The water crisis started about a month back when one of the newly installed tube-wells supplying water to the SRN Hospital suddenly became out of order.
The two old tube-wells of the SRN Hospital were already lying defunct due to which the main supply was made through the new tube-well. But as it was not functioning properly for the last few days the limited supply was made through water tank on the campus, which led to serious water crisis in the 800-bed referral hospital.
Nurses Association district president Safia Khatun said patients are forced to migrate to other hospitals as there is no water supply in wards after 7.30 am.
The doctors too shout on us due to poor sanitary condition at operation theatres, but we are helpless as there is no water supply in the hospital, she said.
Moti Lal Nehru Medical College principal Prof PC Saxena said few months back a new tube-well was installed at the hospital by Jal Sansthan after the college released the full payment of Rs 22 lakh. But only after few days the pump started to create problems. A complaint was made to the Jal Sansthan officials for correcting the fault but no action was taken. After the district magistrate was requested to intervene in the matter he deputed members of Water Conservation Committee for solving the water crisis. The members found that the tube-well pump was technically installed at the wrong place due to which hospital was receiving interrupted water supply, he said.
"Jal Sansthan was again asked to correct the error but the officers say they are busy in Magh Mela. It seems that now we have to raise the issue before the High Court," he added.
