Details available with Kashmir News Service(KNS), the hospital has been declared unsafe by the fire and emergency services department several years ago. Allowing the hospital to function from 'unsafe' building is not risking only the lives of mothers and newborns but medics and Para-medics as well.

 

Located in the congested Sherbagh locality of Anantnag town, the hospital was declared unsafe during the safety audit carried out by the fire and emergency department five years ago. The audit team also had strongly recommended the shifting of the hospital without any delay. However, the hospital continues to await shifting to some safer place. 

 

The hospital caters to the patients from all the four districts of south Kashmir besides parts of Jammu region including Banihal and Kishtwar and remains one of the most overcrowded healthcare facilities of the valley after Lal Ded hospital Srinagar. The hospital for last three years has been working under the administrative control of government medical college Anantnag.

 

"The hospital is facing so space crunch that you can see patients sharing beds even in the hospital corridors. Both labor and post operative wards are stuffed with the beds more than double their capacity. If God forbid, the massive fire like that of B and J hospital occurs here, it will be a major tragedy as it will be impossible to evacuate the patients," said a doctor posted in the hospital.

 

"Is government waiting for the tragedy to happen,"? he asked. 

 

Though the BJP-PDP government in 2017 took over a trust owned private under-construction Rahmat-e-Alam hospital along with its assets and liabilities with the purpose to shift the maternity hospital there.

 

The contract to complete the under construction hospital was allotted to JKPCC with the deadline of two years. The executing agency repeatedly missed the deadlines and finally completed the same after four years. 

 

However, after the completion of the building which had raised the hopes of the people and the doctors about shifting of MCH, the same ironically was also declared unsafe by the Institute of information technolgy (IIT) Jammu after conducting its safety audit.

 

The IIT Jammu in its report said that the building was not safe for hospital purpose.

 

An official of the medical college Anantnag questioned the wisdom of the authorities of wasting 13 crore rupees on the construction of the two additional floors Rahmat-e-Alam hospital. 

 

"Even after spending 13 crore rupees the MCH continues to function from the unsafe building. On one hand authorities have ordered fire safety audit of all the government buildings but surprisingly on the other hand they are allowing one of the most crowded hospitals to function from unsafe building putting the lives of both the mothers and newborns at risk," said the doctor.(KNS)