Hyderabad: Heavy rains lashed the city on Wednesday leading to heavy flooding inside the wards of Osmania General Hospital (OGH) for the second time in a week. As the prime hospital in the city large number of patients being admitted to get cured from diseases, it is like adding insult to the injury at a time when the coronavirus is reigning in the city and the sick suffering from various hardships are struggling to get required medicare. Rainwater mixed with sewage water is flowing inside the wards of OGH. Treatment, for now has taken a backseat as the staff got together armed with gunny bags to stop the water.
In a series of videos that went viral today on social media shows the hospital’s sanitation staff and ward boys were seen in the videos using sandbags to block the flow of water into the heritage building patients wards.
While on Monday due to heavy rainfall the staff used mattresses of the beds from hospital to block the flow of water which wad continuously coming into wards mix with sewage water. The heritage building of the OGH has six wards including an ICU which is continuously inundated from two days in a week.
The flooding of several wards on the ground floor was telecasted live on news channels, showing the utter neglect of the government towards such a famed facility as Osmania General Hospital, possibly damaging medical equipment. Knee-deep water at some places and a sheet of water elsewhere severely hampered the medical attention to the patients. Within a few minutes of downpour, there was knee-deep water in the hospital.
The silence of the government is baffling, say doctors at the hospital. “Not only the drain water issue, there are several machines which help in treatment of cancer but there is no procurement. The drainage problem is an age-old problem. The government needs to come up with permanent solutions like replacing the old pipelines, strengthening the old walls and anything which helps the hospital building,” said Dr Pandu Nayak, from Osmania General Hospital
Patients were horrified by the drainage overflow entering the wards that caused water stagnation here, falling chunks of ceiling and hardly anybody attending staff in the hospital.
Senior doctors of OGH lamented that the TRS government has its priorities wrong. Instead of demolishing the secretariat, there is a need to revamp all the government hospitals. We are scared to work in this dilapidated building. It is not safe for anyone as the building lost its strength to handle hundreds of patients. It might collapse anytime and we need to renovate the building before any unpleasant situations materialise, says one of medical staff.
Suffering of patients
Patients were horrified by the drainage overflow entering the wards, causing water stagnation here and there, now or then falling chunks of ceiling and hardly attending staff in the hospital.
Till now promises have not been fulfilled
- In 2010, the then united Andhra Pradesh State government issued an order announcing in-principle approval for the construction of a new building for hospital in six acres of land behind the main building- a built up area of two lakh square feet with Rs 200 cr
- After the formation of Telangana State, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced that the building would be demolished and in its place a new building would be constructed
- In 2015, soon after the Chief Minister visited Osmania General Hospital and announced his decision that the building would not last for a few years, heritage activists rose in unison
- In the month of August 2015, a team comprising conservation architects, structural engineers and others from INTACH Delhi conducted a three-day survey and informed that the structure only needs repairs and can withstand for another 200 years
- In 2017, 2018 and as recent as February 3, 2019 roof plaques fell in room No 502, Department of Radiology in the old building
- It was followed by protest by doctors wearing helmets while treating patients in 2019
- Last week, a PIL was filed seeking new building for OGH