Emergency hospital Qazigund lacks heating facility during winter chill
Anantnag: Despite the ongoing peak winter season the emergency hospital located in south Kashmir’s Qazigund area lacks proper heating arrangements. The absence of heating facilities is hitting the staff, patients and the attendants who are appealing the authorities to provide uninterrupted heating facilities at the hospital.
Several staffers as well as patients at the hospital complained that despite minus temperature during night, there is no arrangements of heating at the hospital which can prove fatal for newborn babies and post operative patients.
They said that due to frequent electricity cuts, the patients as well as staff are facing lot of problems.
An official said that a decade back a solar plant was installed at the hospital, however, it was never made functional despite spending crores of rupees on it.
He said that frequent electricity failures cause electric based heating systems to collapse for hours together, thereby making situation terrible during the night hours.
Patients said besides heating arrangements, there is no facility for digital x-ray and MRI due to which patients are forced to visit private clinics and get these vital tests done.
Notably, the hospital caters to dozens of villages in the entire Qazigund belt.
“This hospital has tremendous footfall of patients and if the facilities here are not upto the mark what can be said about various PHC’s and other healthcare facilities that are operating in far off areas,” Nazir Ahmad Wagay, a local resident said.
On contacting Medical Superintendent of the emergency hospital Qazigund Dr Aasima, she acknowledged that hospital lacks proper heating arrangements; however, she said that the issue has been taken up with higher authorities in the health department.
“We are following the demands put forth before the senior officials and hopefully we will be able to work out something very soon,” she added.
Jahangeer Ganaie
