Rainwater gushes into ICU, others wards of Tata covid hospital in Kerala

Express News Service
KASARAGOD: The Rs 60-crore covid hospital, constructed by the Tata Trust in Kasaragod, is giving nightmares to well being officers as it’s leaking within the rain.

The hospital — quickly arrange by piecing collectively 128 customised delivery containers — is among the two mainstays for covid therapy within the district. “Almost all the containers are leaking,” mentioned a workers member, who wished to stay nameless.

Rainwater gushed in by the wedges of the home windows, from the roof and if the wind was sturdy, the water can be swept in by the entrance door too. “In the night, our cleaning staff has to be up with the mops and floor wipers to push out the water,” mentioned one other workers member. The leakage needs to be instantly repaired to keep away from a disaster within the wet season, the workers member added.

Of the 128 delivery containers, sufferers are admitted in 40 containers. Twelve of the containers are intensive care items. “The water from the windows stream down onto power plugs on the walls. It is a nightmare. We cannot even turn off the power in the ICU,” mentioned a nurse.

They mentioned that they had reported the leakage to the district medical officer (DMO) and the collector final yr itself. “We also contacted the Tata Trust officials but no one is fixing the leakage,” she mentioned.

The Tata Trust constructed the hospital utilizing delivery containers in 5 months and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated it on September 9, 2020.

It began admitting sufferers on October 28, 2020. The leak was first reported through the December rain.Each container measuring 40-ft size by 10-ft top by 10-ft width has 4 uPVC home windows. The home windows weren’t correctly sealed utilizing silicone gel. The workers mentioned water spurts in by virtually all of the home windows and in some containers, by the roof, too.

The containers are used to accommodate the canteen, pharmacy, workplace, quarters for nurses and docs, and different workers.

TNIE visited the hospital after a affected person shared a video of the rainwater spurting in by the sting of the home windows. Several containers had rainwater stains on the within partitions.

When the hospital was constructed final September, Tata officers gave a lifetime of 30 years to the containers, mentioned a senior well being official. “When they came to check the leaks in January this year, they said the hospital would last for five years. But the leakage is happening in the first rains itself,” he mentioned.

The monsoon would irritate the state of affairs. “If that happens, we will have to shut the hospital and shift the covid patients to the District Hospital and General Hospital. It will be disastrous for the non-covid patients,” he mentioned. “They will have nowhere to go.”

The Kochi-based Tata Group Administrative Department official, who oversaw the challenge, mentioned his employees would attain the hospital on Thursday and start the work.