A Patna Municipal Corporation carrier dumps garbage near Gardanibagh Hospital in Patna. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) decision to dump garbage at a site near Gardanibagh Hospital is causing problem to patients and doctors.

The hospital happens to be the extended outpatient department of Patna Medical College and Hospital. When The Telegraph visited the hospital, it found heaps of garbage dumped near the health hub.

Manjula Rani, the deputy superintendent of Gardanibagh Hospital, said: “The air in and around the hospital has become polluted because of the garbage. The stench is making lives miserable for doctors and patients.”

Though the hospital administration had sent a letter to the PMC in February seeking removal of garbage from the site, the municipal body did not respond. Rani said: “I wrote a letter to the PMC in February seeking removal of garbage from near the hospital, but so far got no response.”

The PMC officials didn’t communicate it to the hospital why the garbage was not removed. The municipal body has made its secondary landfill site near the hospital. Sources said the primary landfill site of the PMC is at Ramchak-Bairia village where garbage up to 1,200 tonnes is dumped every day. “In Patna, garbage from across the city is first dumped at the secondary landfill site near the Gardanibagh Hospital from where it is taken to the primary landfill site at Ramchak-Bairia village,” a source said.

Rani said: “Everyday, we receive around 200 patients in the OPD, which sometimes increases to 400, with various problems. Staying in such inhuman condition can make their conditions worse.”

She is mostly worried about pregnant women. “We carry out around 25-30 cesarean operations every month. Pregnant women are highly susceptible to virus. The newborns also have high chances of getting infected.”

The hospital administration had sought help from district civil surgeon office for the problem. “Civil surgeon K.K. Mishra had asked us to sent him a copy of the letter we had sent to PMC. But no action has been taken yet,” Rani said.

Mishra said: “We are helpless. We have asked the PMC to remove the garbage from the site but they have not taken any action. We will send a reminder to the PMC.”

The patients criticised the PMC for its action. Deepak Kumar, a private firm employee who took his relative to the hospital, said: “Ideally, there should not be any garbage in the 1-2km radius of a hospital. When I visited the hospital two months ago, that time too I had found garbage near the hospital. Why is the PMC not worried about the patients?” he asked.

Asked about the PMC failure to look into the issue, Vishal Anand, the executive officer of new capital circle under which the hospital falls, said: “We cannot change the landfill site. However, we have purchased a new machine that would ensure quick removal of garbage near the hospital.”