The surgical building of Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) has become fully functional despite being declared unfit and unsafe for any work by a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) after the April 25 quake.

The building was at high risk as the construction department had declared it "unfit and unsafe" much before the April 25 quake. Although they were aware of the surgical building's condition, the DMCH administration made it functional after the quake, gradually. The administration does not think there is any risk in running the surgical department and labs from the building.

The building has a 72-bed surgical ward and 10 operating theatres, apart from an X-ray lab. More than 350 people, including attendants and patients, frequent this ward daily, which has been declared unsafe by the executive engineer of the building construction department, Rakesh Kumar. Acting medical superintendent of DMCH Santosh Kumar Mishra, claimed daily operations are on at the building.

Mishra said: "The surgical building is not very old as it was constructed in 1981-82. It only needs renovation, which we are going to start soon under district magistrate Kumar Ravi's orders. How can we manage the operating theatres of the different departments if the surgical building is not functional? We have to use the building, even if its outer facade is not good. We think the building is safe for work but the construction department has declared it unsafe. We have to save the lives of many patients who need to be operated on."

District magistrate Ravi said: "The hospital administration might have been running the surgical ward on humanitarian grounds. After the April 25 quake, we had vacated the building with a NDRF team because the executive engineer of the building construction department had reported it unsafe. Running the surgical building is a decision of the hospital administration and I will review the circumstances under which the building was made operational."

Executive engineer of the construction department Rakesh Kumar said: "A team from the Patna headquarters had reviewed the condition of the surgical building a fortnight ago and found a G-3 defect. This means it is unfit and unsafe to live in. We don't know under what circumstances the hospital made the building functional. The rods of the building are eroded, the beams have cracks and the pillars are in a bad shape."

"We received an approval from the district magistrate to float a tender for renovation but its publication is due. It will help in repairing some parts of the building," he added.

Bahadurpur resident and a hernia patient, Hira Sahani, 40, on Monday underwent a surgery. He was aware of the poor condition of the building but had no option but to be operated upon.