Despite the communication by the district police to the BHEl authorities that other portions of the Kasturba hospital building, which is in dilapidated condition, should be vacated with immediate effect, the BHEl authorities are not taking any step in this aspect.
While speaking to media on Monday, CMHO of Kasturba hospital Sarala Menon told that the management has not received any communication from the police or the BMC in this regard. This was for the first time that BHEl management bravely faces the media after the portion of the two-storey building collapsed killing two and injuring 28 people on Friday.
Sarala Menon told that maintenance and reason of building collapse are responsibility of Civil Department and she is not aware about the building and technical aspects. A committee has been formed which will provide its report after the completion of the inquiry.
Keeping the present condition of the victims in mind, she told that three patients are undergoing treatment at the Male ward while 8 patients admitted in Female surgical ward. At the time of incident, only 11 patients were undergoing treatment, but the actual number of victims was 30 as around 19 people were relatives of the patients, labourers working at the ground floor and the hospital staff. Nine people have been discharged till date. Only three victims are under observation at the ICU as their condition is not stable, she added.
AGM HR KK Nair and AGM AK Chaturvedi of the BHEl management were also present on the incident, but they did not speak out a single word.
Meanwhile, DIG of Bhopal D Shrinivas Varma told 'The Pioneer' that on the day of the incident, instructions were given to the hospital management that the adjoining male ward of the same building should be vacated and should not be used before the structure engineer verifies that the building is safe for use and a letter including this instructions was handed over to the hospital.