Many areas in Chennai continued to be water logged on Monday even as authorities feared that stagnant pools in many of the low-lying areas were becoming breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
After the last three days heavy downpour, the entrance of Kilpauk Medical College Hospital was flooded, causing major inconvenience for patients.
“Out-patients have to walk in and out of the hospital with great difficulty while in-patients have to bear the brunt of the mosquito menace that follows the rain,” said 50-year-old Ms Pushpavanam, a cook whose husband is admitted to the hospital.
The sanitary conditions in the hospital is pathetic and it would be a miracle if the patients who come here for treatment don't end up acquiring a worse disease due to the unhygienic condition that prevails in the hospital, she added.
Every monsoon the hospital battles flooding as it is located at a lower level than the Poonamallee High Road. Sewage blocks are also a regular feature, said hospital sources, adding that leaking roofs and flooded corridors define the hospital.
“This problem is persistent mostly in the peripheral hospitals. Such water stagnation can cause dengue and malaria among the patients who are already unwell. Though lakhs of rupees are given for hospital maintenance every year, funds are not utilised properly.
The heads of these government hospitals should find out what the hospitals lack and submit a report during budget time to develop the infrastructure," said Dr G.R Ravindranath, general secretary of Doctor's Association of Social Equality.