TIRUVALLUR: Patients visit a hospital to be treated for their illness. But, at the Tiruvallur Government Hospital, their pain is compounded by another challenge for the last few months – lack of drinking water in the hospital.
Not just patients, the shortage of drinking water also has affected attendants, training nurses, sweepers and other workers, who are forced to buy packed water sold outside the GH.
A patient in the male ward lamented over the difficulty of purchasing drinking water from outside the hospital. “Summer heat spikes water demand, and there’s always a need to drink water day and night. But there isn’t water enough for all of us, and even for patients to take our tablets,” said a patient on the third floor.
On alternative days in a week or sometimes, for two consecutive days, there is no drinking water anywhere on the third floor. “So, patients buy one- or two-litre water bottles from shops. The hospital doesn’t give water even to take our tablets,” said another patient at the GH.
Attendants of patients have it worse. Selvi’s husband was admitted in hospital for 10 days ago. Due to the shortage, she has been climbing up and down the staircase between (2nd and 5th floor) to fetch water for her husband and herself. “If drinking water is unavailable in main building of the hospital, I get it from other buildings,” she stated.
Sweepers and other workers lamented over the long hours of the job, and the lack of time to rest. “And now, there’s no drinking water here. Since we cannot afford to spend money from our pockets to buy water, we don’t drink enough all day,” lamented a sweeper. “All of us get free lunch at the hospital but not water. There isn’t enough drinking water in the hospital for all of us. So, we’re tired, hungry and thirsty all day.”
Speaking to DT Next, an official at Tiruvallur GH said that the groundwater level was low in the hospital area. “So, to meet the needs of the hospital, the Tiruvallur municipality provides 5 water lorries daily. We have a purification system for the water used for dialysis and other treatments,” he added.
He also accused the attenders and others for taking more drinking water than needed. “Most of them fill water in 2-litre and 5-litre bottles, which leads to shortage for others. We’ve raised a complaint to the contractor for RO purifier. This issue should be sorted out within a day itself,” explained the official.
When DT Next visited the GH on Friday, the fault in the RO purifier had not been rectified.