HYDERABAD: A day after severe inundation wreaked havoc in the Osmania General Hospital's heritage structure, patients from all six wards were shifted to different locations on Thursday in order to prevent a repeat of Wednesday’s horror when drainage water flooded the ground floor of the building.
While patients from five wards, where 50 to 60 people are undergoing treatment, were shifted to the first floor of the same dilapidated structure, the Intensive Medical Care ward was shifted to the outpatient block, which is a relatively new building.
"We drained out all water and sanitised the wards immediately. But to be on the safe side, we shifted them to the first floor. However, heavy rains being forecast, we are shifting them to the Quli Qutub Shah building where a 200-bed set-up is ready to serve the purpose," said Dr Pandu Naik, Superintendent of the OGH.
Meanwhile, to resolve the issue temporarily,a team comprising engineers from the GHMC,HMWSSB and OGH was formed to find out the source of flooding. The team was formed after several ministers and Opposition leaders made a beeline for the oldest hospital of Hyderabad to learn about the travails of the patients.
"The team has three GHMC engineers, a HMWSSB team and some OGH staff. We suspect that a newly-laid road on the temple side of the old block has blocked a catchment pit. The water is flooding mainly on that side," said Vinay Kapoor, GHMC Deputy Commissioner of Goshamahal. The team has commissioned work for digging up of the entire area and the roads using a JCB to find out the root cause. This is likely to cause more inconvenience to patients.
Superintendent Dr Pandu Naik said: "We are ensuring that the TSMDC and GHMC work towards diverting the drainage coming from Begum Bazar into another canal so that load on OGH canal is reduced."
Meanwhile, the Telangana State Human Rights Commission (TSHRC) has taken sou motu cognizance of the matter and ordered the superintendent to submit a report by August 21.
Team formed
A team, comprising 3 GHMC engineers, HMWSSB officials and OGH staff, has commissioned work for digging up of the entire area and the roads using a JCB to find out the root cause. This may cause inconvenience to patients