OUR CORRESPONDENT
MANGALDAI: Due to incessant rainfall over the past three days, water has seeped into the ICU of Mangaldai Civil Hospital, exposing the frail infrastructure of the health department. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an ICU was hurriedly set up in a room on the first floor of the hospital. Constructed by a Guwahati-based contractor, Motlib Uddin Ahmed, this ICU was inaugurated on June 1, 2021, by the then Health Minister Keshab Mahanta.
However, the newly-built ICU’s infrastructure is so weak and faulty that even a single bout of rain creates a chaotic situation inside. Water leaking from the ICU’s ceiling has led to a situation where buckets have to be placed at various spots to collect the dripping water. The Mangaldai Civil Hospital, the sole reliable healthcare facility for Darrang and Udalguri districts, was equipped with this ICU containing ten ventilator beds. It was hoped that patients would greatly benefit from this ICU, but due to inadequate infrastructure and facilities, it has now become a liability. Typically, the ceiling of an ICU should be made of concrete, but the Mangaldai Civil Hospital’s ICU has a tin roof resulting in rainwater leaks whenever it rains. Officiating Superintendent of the hospital Dr Utpal Baruah has urged higher authorities to provide adequate facilities and strengthen the infrastructure to address this issue.
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