The blood bank of Patliputra Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) of the coal town is facing a crisis in stock without donation camps amid the ongoing lockdown.

PMCH had a stock of only 68 units of blood till Friday (April 10).

The situation, however, has improved a little by Sunday with two blood donation camps organised by social outfit Bengali Welfare Society. The camps were held on Saturday and Sunday. In both, 43 units were donated, taking the stock up to 111 units.

Dr A.K. Singh, in charge of PMCH blood bank, said: “Blood donation camps, which are the lone source of blood stock, are not being held. The closure of hostels of IIT(ISM) and BIT-Sindri, whose students regularly donate blood, are responsible for this crisis.”

He added: “As the administration allowed us to hold camps by maintaining social distancing, we appealed to organisations to donate blood,” said Singh. “The Bengali Welfare Society took the lead and organised the first camp near Durga Mandir in Hirapur yesterday (Saturday) where 27 units were donated, and another at Jain Milan Mandir in Matkuria today (Sunday) where 16 units were donated,” he said.

“We are expecting the stock to further increase as another camp organised by Rotary Club Dhanbad is scheduled tomorrow (Monday) at Bara Gurdwara at Matkuria in Dhanbad. With one or two more small camps the situation is likely to improve further as by then we will have a comfortable stock of 200-250 units,” Singh added.

He said that though the PMCH blood bank can stock up to 900 units, the average daily consumption of blood at the state-run hospital is around 50 units.

Planned surgeries at PMCH are on hold at present due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Emergency operations and Caesarean deliveries are on. Enough blood needs to be stocked for these.

Regular blood supply is also required for around 140 thalassaemia patients of Dhanbad and adjoining districts like Giridih, Jamtara, many of whom require weekly and monthly blood transfusions.

Asked how they motivated donors at a time like us, general secretary of Bengali Welfare Society Gopal Bhattacharjee told The Telegraph: “We took the lead to replenish the blood bank stocks by motivating our donors over phone.”

He added that he was “extremely grateful” to all donors as they came forward for this humane cause. “But at the same time we also expect cooperation from the police and administrative officials as some of our donors were stopped from reaching the venue. They were released after policemen had a telephonic chat with us.”