A ward in Osmania General Hospital, one of Hyderabad’s biggest government hospitals was inundated following heavy rains on Wednesday afternoon. The general ward houses patients for medical procedures and surgeries.
In one video circulating on social media, ankle-deep water has inundated a ward occupied with the patients . All the admitted patients, including, men, women and children were seen wearing masks, sitting on the beds, by keeping their legs up.
Another video shows rainwater gushing out even as hospital staff are trying to push out the water using rakes. Several packed packets of personal protective equipment are seen floating. In one video, a hospital staff member expresses shock over how the hospital got ‘flooded’ with the sudden rain, wondering how the water entered the ward.
Rain&drain water inundated into a ward of Hyderabad's Osmania General Hospital on Wednesday. Hospital, Disaster Mgt and GHMC staff were roped into clear the water.@thenewsminute pic.twitter.com/sd7g3o1f5h
— CharanTeja (@CharanT16) July 15, 2020
Later on Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) disaster management teams had to step in to clear the inundated water.
Speaking to TNM Dr Pandu Naik, Osmania General Hospital Superintendent said that the incident happened at around 12.30 pm on Wednesday. He said that the heavy rain in the area and blockage of sewage near the old building of the OGH caused water to enter the ward.
He said, “Rain and blockage in a drainage channel near the building caused inundation. Soon, we called in disaster response teams and GHMC and roped in our hospital staff to clear the water. For now there is no water in the ward. The sewage blockage is being cleared.”
Raining in #Hyderabad, this is the condition at Osmania General Hospital. COVID-19 persons are being treated at this hospital. What a pitiable condition! pic.twitter.com/gZVUUlvj0u
— Paul Oommen (@Paul_Oommen) July 15, 2020
Dr Naik said 30 patients in the ward have been shifted to the second floor as a preventive measure in case there was another downpour. He, however, refuted allegations of water floating into the ward with COVID-19 patients. He said that the Osmania General Hospital is not treating confirmed COVID19 cases, but administering treatment to patients who are suspected to have contracted the virus and are awaiting test results.
“The water inundation happened in an old in-patient building. Patients who are in isolation awaiting COVID-19 tests are in the outpatient building, so none of them have been affected.”
The Superintendent of Osmania General Hospital further stated that the issue has been brought to the notice of the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and concerned engineers have also visited the site, to further sort out the possible recurrence of such incident.
When it rains!! Yet again the Osmania General Hospital inundated and drains started overflowing after #Hyderabad few hours of rain. This Nizam era hospital is used for #COVID19 test and treatment. #TelanganaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/5yNEdrvQGR
— Aashish (@Ashi_IndiaToday) July 15, 2020
One senior official from OGH said that the flooding occurred due to the mismatch in the drainage system of the old building and the new sewerage system.
It was also speculated that the problem might be also due to a road which was laid six months ago. It was also observed that though there were rains earlier, no such flooding took place.
Amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Hyderabad, Osmania General Hospital is one of the government hospitals attending to general patients. The hospital treats regular patients along with a designated ward on the second floor to treat suspected patients who are suspected to have COVID-19.