Anantnag, Feb 24 : The Maternity and Child Care Hospital (M&CCH) in Anantnag town, catering to patients from all four districts of south Kashmir as well as Ramban and the Chenab Valley, continues to function from an unsafe building since 2014.
Located in the congested Sherbagh locality, the hospital faces a space crunch, with authorities placing beds in the corridors to accommodate the huge influx of patients.
Officials who spoke with the news agency— said that more than 100 patients remain admitted in the labour and surgical wards almost every night. They said thousands of patients visit the hospital OPD daily.
For such a huge rush, there are only two labour wards and four surgical wards besides an operation theatre, the officials, wishing anonymity, said, adding, “Multiple patients occupy a single bed, and the hospital is overcrowded and noisy, with people usually jostling each other to move in.”
The building in which MCCH is functioning at present was declared unsafe by the Fire & Emergency Services Department around a decade ago.
“After the building was declared unsafe, the government planned to shift the hospital to the district hospital; however, political influence forced authorities to revoke the order within 24 hours,” the officials said.
“Seven years ago, the government decided to shift the hospital to the Rehmat e Alam building (a building of trust) in the Sarnal area of the town. However, the hospital continues to work from the unsafe building which faces a space crunch among other problems,” they said.
According to officials, the hospital receives more than 50,000 patients in the Out-Patient Department (OPD) and about 10,000 indoor patients monthly.
The shifting of the MCCH to Rehmat e Alam Hospital, constructed at the cost of Rs 13 crore by JKPCC, was put on hold after the IIT Jammu declared the existing first two floors of the building unsafe. After that, the GMC Anantnag authorities proposed another 200-bedded hospital building at the same site.
When contacted, the officials said shifting of the hospital is not in their domain. However, they acknowledged that patients suffer here as the hospital is facing a space crunch.
“Due to unsafe buildings, we are unable to spend or increase facilities which would enhance facilities here, as we know the building is unsafe and spending anything on an unsafe building will be a futile exercise,” they said, adding that they informed the higher-ups several times about these issues. “We hope the hospital will be shifted soon,” they added.
Meanwhile, a top health official informed KNO that a series of meetings have been conducted in the last few weeks to explore possibilities of shifting the hospital on an internal arrangement basis.
“The government is also looking if only the department among maternity and paediatrics may be shifted, but as of now, no decision has been taken,” the official said, adding that efforts are on to shift the hospital as soon as possible
