Bhopal Division Commissioner has given clean-chit to the Gandhi Medical College Administration in the Friday night incident in which three Covid patients died at State-run Hamidia hospital due to power cut.
At 5.48pm on Friday, the Covid19 ward faced a power outage and the electricity supply was only resumed by around 7.45 pm. As many as 64 patients were admitted to the Covid19 ward in the city’s largest hospital and many of them were on high flow oxygen support.
The power back-up was provisioned at the hospital with a generator but it wasn’t working and even the diesel wasn’t available to run the machine.
Amid chaotic situation, former Congress corporator Md Akbar Khan (67) had died while two others also got critical and died later on. Khan’s brother had alleged that the death was caused amid mismanagement as there was no fuel available to run the generator.
The shocking incident at Bhopal’s mega hospital sent shockwaves in the government machinery and Shivraj government on Saturday swung into action.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had ordered divisional commissioner Kavindra Kiyawat to probe into the matter and submit a report to him by evening on Saturday.
“No doubt, it’s a very serious matter,” Medical Education minister Vishwas Sarang said. PWD engineer in charge of maintaining the power back up has been suspended immediately, added the minister saying the Dean of Gandhi Medical College and Superintendent of Hamidia hospital have been served notices.
The physician responsible for issuing a certificate of proper arrangements has also been given notice and will be punished, said the minister.
The minister however shielded the state government saying budget was sanctioned for the generator and arrangements were put in place for its maintenance.
The power back up had barely lasted ten minutes and Covid19 ward was in the dark for close to an hour and half. The Congress former corporator Md Akbar had died at 10.40pm.
As many as 11 patients in the ward were kept in ICU.