Noida: Water seeping through walls, hospital parking mosquito breeding ground

NOIDA: There are close to 700 dengue cases in Noida, but the basement of the District Hospital in Sector 39 is exactly what the doctor wouldn’t recommend.
The basement, which is being used as a parking lot, has a constant water seepage problem that has started affecting the pillars and walls of the building that came up just three years back. In July, a portion of a false ceiling on the second floor of the hospital collapsed due to seepage.
“The basement is poorly lit and extremely dank, just the ideal conditions for mosquitoes to breed. Just where the parking ramp ends, there is a big puddle. Patients or their attendants can also slip and hurt themselves here,” Sehdev Kumar, who accompanied his mother to the hospital on Thursday, told TOI.
Currently, three dengue patients are undergoing treatment at the hospital. On Thursday, the city recorded 21 fresh dengue cases taking the district’s count to 685.
Shardul Singh, a patient who was visiting the outpatient department, said the parking space is unmanned and has dark corners that can easily become blind spots for any kind of mischief. “Senior doctors also use this parking space. One wonders why it is in such a poor condition.”
A senior doctor shared there was seepage in the basement since May 1 when all the departments had shifted to the building from the Child PGI premise in Sector 30.
“During the monsoon, there was too much humidity, and the parking area was completely dank. The seepage is causing damage to the walls even in the upper floors,” the doctor said.
After the July ceiling collapse, CMS Dr Renu Agarwal shot off a letter to the Noida Authority, which built the hospital, to undertake repairs. Subsequently, Noida also undertook a survey to check fixtures on all eight floors of the hospital.
Patients also complain of stretchers and unused furniture abandoned on the staircase.
“People have to sprint between floors as the lifts are far too few to handle the volume of patients, attendants and health staff. An attendant who has to buy medicines or get blood for their patient can’t afford to wait for 10-12 minutes to take the elevator each time,” an attendant of a patient admitted on the third floor of the hospital said. “The stairs, unfortunately, are very dirty with a thick layer of dust on the rails and betel stains at every corner.”
Additionally, the fire exit of the eight-storey building has also been kept closed, a move that could impede evacuation during emergency.
An official posted at the CMO office on the eighth floor on the condition of anonymity said, “There is no designated lift for doctors and officials visiting the CMO office (located on the top floor of the building). One lift should be used only by people headed to the CMO’s office,” a senior doctor, who did not wish to be named, said.
Officials claimed the maintenance work would start soon and the staircase also be cleaned for the convenience of the people.