John Wilbert & Rabindranath Biswas
Port Blair, Nov 13: Patients and attendants in GB Pant Hospital, have been suffering heavily due to the unavailability of drinking water from RO water unit in hospital OPD Complex, public alleged.
As per report, there is no drinking water facility for the patients in GB Pant Hospital for the past several months as the RO water unit in the hospital is in defunct state. The General Public alleged that patients who come to Hospital for treatment are forced to buy water from the hospital canteen and or else they have to walk long distances to the new medical complex for drinking water.
When contacted, the Staff of GB Pant Hospital said that the RO water unit was repaired a long time back but when informed about the defunct condition of the RO water unit, they cross checked the matter and found that the RO water unit was directly connected with the tank which dispensed water but without filtering the potable water as it is lying defunct for months together. As a result, patients had been drinking this untreated water, they alleged.
When contacted, the Medical Superintendent told Andaman Sheekha Daily that he was not aware of the matter as no one made any complaint about the matter to him; even his staff didn’t apprise him of the matter. Regretting the matter, he said that if RO water unit was directly connected with the tank then it was undeniably wrong. He assured that he will enquire into the matter and try to resolve the issue as early as possible.
Until repair work of the RO water unit is completed, the authority should display a sign board which would read- “RO water unit under repair”, the general public opined.
