A water shortage in Hyderabad's Gandhi Hospital has left patients and visitors finding it difficult to quench their thirst.
Patients and attendants are complaining of several difficulties due to the water shortage. There are no shops near the hospital, so buying water is a problem. Now the water shortage has worsened conditions for visitors.
Gabbar Singh, a visitor whose mother is admitted to the hospital, told ANI, "There is water shortage here at Gandhi Hospital. I came here yesterday and from last evening we did not get water in this hospital."
Another visitor, Ganesh, said- "There is no proper water connection inside the Gandhi Hospital. We have to stay thirsty all the day. We would have to walk for a long distance to get water. Sometimes even the patients do not get water in their wards."
Officials, however, have passed the buck and blamed the large number of hospital visitors for the same. Dr Sravan Kumar, Superintendent of Gandhi Hospital, told ANI, "Approximately 15,000 patients come here in a day. How will there be any water shortage when we are providing all the facilities? There might be little trouble during the summer season as there are 10 family members coming with a single patient."
He added, "Outsiders visit the hospital and utilise the cold water facilities meant for the patients despite asking them not to. We have even requested the patients not to get so many attendants which give rise to such problems."
Earlier this month, it was revealed that mismanagement by authorities at Gandhi Hospital, Osmania Hospital, and Niloufer Hospital had caused water shortages. Attendants alleged that authorities had let the tanks overflow on several occasions, and did not take action despite repeated reminders causing a lot of water to be wasted.
As a result, several NGO's set up tents outside the hospitals to serve water. Hospital staff were also forced to wait in queues to get access to drinking water.
[With inputs from ANI]
