Water crisis grips Dinajpur Medical College Hospital

Scarcity of water brings woe to the patients and their attendants at 500-bed Dinajpur Medical College Hospital, especially during the ongoing heat wave in the district.  

The taps of the hospital fail to supply water most of the time, and the situation turns critical during the long power outages, said patients and their relatives.

Several attendants of patients at the hospital said they have to bring water from the lone tube-well set up at an unhygienic place on the hospital premises.

"We have to take the trouble to go downstairs to bring drinking water from the tube-well," said Asma Begum, attendant of a medicine ward patient on the fourth floor.

"Somehow we bring drinking water from other places but doing so for bathing purposes is almost impossible," Ayub Ali, a patient of the orthopaedic ward.

Shortage of water inside the hospital badly affects cleanliness and hygiene, said patients and staff during this correspondent's visit to the hospital a couple of days ago.

The washrooms and even the floors of different wards of the hospital remained awfully dirty.

All the taps of medicine, orthopaedic and ophthalmology wards were found without water.

Several staff seeking anonymity said often they have to go outside for washing their hands after deliveries as water is not available inside.

The cleaners come twice a day, but they cannot properly clean the dirty floors and toilets due to shortage of water.

Sometimes it becomes difficult to get water from the lone tube-well and patients and staff have to get water from across the street in case of emergency, said the sufferers.

Many doctors of the hospital run clinics in Dinajpur and they do not care about cleanliness of the hospital, said sources.

"If people get good environment and good treatment at the government hospital, how will private clinics get patients and run business?" said an official seeking anonymity.

Dr Amir Ali, director of Dinajpur Medical College Hospital, said the water pump installed at the hospital cannot be operated with power generator and only one tube-well is not sufficient to meet the water requirement of the entire hospital.