Srinagar, Feb4, : Unattended garbage in the premises of Super Specialty Hospital (SSH) here in summer capital Srinagar is causing immense problems to the visitors.
As per sources, the garbage lying inside the hospital premises has not been removed from here for a long time. The problem has been compounded by presence of a large number of dogs around this garbage pile—putting the lives of visitors at risk.
Some visitors even went on to complain that they fear to roam around freely, especially during late evenings due to the presence of these dogs around the hospital.
The SSH located at Shireen Bagh, opposite to Shri Mahraja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital runs under the administrative control of Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar is catering to hundreds of patients on a daily basis.
Unattended garbage which includes medical waste generated in this government hospital is piling up in a corner of the premises and is proving to be a health hazard.
The waste pile largely comprised food waste, polythene covers, slippers, blood-soaked bandages, syringes and empty medicine bottles. “We have been experiencing severe breathing problems since the last couple of days due to the stench from this,” said a few attendants.
The hospital is visited by hundreds of patients on daily basis; therefore, large biomedical waste gets generated. “Though it has separate bins to segregate wet and solid waste from biomedical waste,” an official at the hospital blamed visitors for not following instructions.
“All biomedical waste is collected by workers and sent outside; only the general waste is collected here. But if syringes and bottles were found in this pile we shall immediately look into it. Only visitors could have thrown it there,” the official inside the hospital added.
Patients also complained that often crows and dogs flock around the garbage pile. “Crows and dogs pick up waste from the pile and drop it everywhere,” said an attendant Yawar Majeed of Pulwama. He accused the hospital authorities that they do not turn up regularly to clear the pile.
Another attendant Bilal Ahmad said that stench coming out from the garbage, often spread around by birds, irks visitors to the hospital. “One can clearly see the heap of garbage lying here unattended. It seems that the garbage has not been lifted for a long time. If garbage lies unattended for a long, the problem may get worse with rise in temperature which ultimately would outbreak any disease,” he said.
A doctor at the hospital said: “If our hospitals are filthy or our environs are full of hazardous waste, people, instead of getting better in health facilities tend to fall sick.”
The attendants grieved that they had taken up the matter with hospital authorities. “But, they (hospital authorities) failed to take measures for ensuring sanitation of the hospital premises. The unattended garbage is emanating pungent smell posing threat of infection to patients as well as attendants,” they said.
They now demand the unattended garbage be urgently sanitized to prevent an outbreak of disease. (KNT)
