Srinagar, May 21: In the ground floor, on the backside of valley’s lone children’s hospital, the sewage treatment plant (STP), which is a space of hazardous waste and obnoxious smell, lies defunct. The plant is a blend of noxious sludge, rusted machines, puffy wires, dead rats and strangulating gas. In the floor above the STP, critical infants are admitted for treatment.
Besides having the distinction of being the only children’s hospital in valley, GB Pant Hospital has also the unique ‘distinction’ of having a sewage treatment plant, though defunct, inside the building. During last four and a half months, the hospital recorded death of at least 380 infants.
No sewage treatment is being carried in the plant. The waste which comes out from the hospital wards is thrown in the backyard of the hospital. There, dogs, in dozens, pound on the waste. The air within and outside the hospital always smells of dead rats and fecal matter.
An on-duty doctor said the sewage treatment plant is the cause of misery for patients. “We (doctors) being in the middle of it can guarantee that it is the biggest problem here in the hospital. On one hand it is defunct and on the other it is emanating malicious smell. And if you believe nobody knows here where from does this foul smell comes,” he said, adding that the STP should not have been in the hospital building. Other doctors seconded the opinion.
While the defunct STP is being overlooked by authorities, two laborers are cementing tiles at the footpath which passes by the STP. They wear masks while working.
The newly appointed Medical Superintendent, Dr Muneer Masoodi, said the STP was not functional.
On being asked whether it was permissible to set up a sewage treatment plant in the hospital, Masoodi said it should not have been there. “First the STP should not have been set up in the hospital building but since it is there we will soon restore it,” he said.
Principal GMC, Dr Qazi Masood, told Greater Kashmir that the design of the hospital including STP had been borrowed from New Delhi. “The STP these days is defunct but its design was such that the logged water could be used for firefighting,” he said.
Dr Masood said it was planned to have an STP within the building. “Since it is defunct it will not have too much effect on children,” he said, adding the STP had been defunct since 2005.
Asked was he aware about the present state of STP and waste management in the hospital, he said it was being carried out by the Cantonment Board.
Minister for Medical Education, RS Chib, did not respond to repeated telephone calls.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 21 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 21 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 IST