MARGAO
As operations are rescheduled and patients anxiously waiting for the ceiling fans to run in the wards, and the lifts to resume operations at the South Goa district hospital, questions are being raised whether the government did not take the maintenance of High Tension electric equipment into account after the commissioning of the South Goa district hospital earlier this year.
The Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), which had built the imposing five-storeyed district hospital, says that maintenance of the High Tension 33KV electric panel falls in the domain of the government and Directorate of Health Services. In fact, a senior GSIDC official pointed out that the agency had drawn up a list of items which needs to be maintained by the Health Services when the hospital was handed over to the DHS last year.
As the Health Services has roped in an agency to put the mechanism in place to take care of the moisture that has developed at the electric panel, the cause behind the tripping of power supply and outages in the last five days, GSDIC officials pointed out that maintenance of the electric panel is mandatory to tackle moisture post-monsoons.
“At the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim, the GSIDC has appointed a competent and certified agency to look after the electricity maintenance. We have no idea whether the DHS had roped in an agency to handle the emergencies caused by the moisture in the electric panel since maintenance of the electric equipment comes in the jurisdiction of the DHS,” remarked a senior GSIDC official.
“The High Tension electric panel is affected by moisture post-monsoons and this moisture can be tackled only by way of heating,” the official added.
Director of Health Services, Dr Ira Almeida pointed out that an agency has now been roped in at the district hospital to address electric issues that have resulted in power outages. “May be by Monday, all these issues should by hopefully addressed and resolved,”
Dr Ira said.
Incidentally, district hospital officials and patients sought to know how come the government and the Health Minister did not visit the district hospital when patients have been experiencing difficulties in the last few days due to power issues. “The air conditioners have not been functioning and so are the ceiling fans. The district hospital has no cross ventilation. There’s a provision for forced ventilation (exhaust) system, but it cannot be operated for want of power supply,” sources said.
The South Goa district hospital has at its disposal three generators of 500 KVA each, which has helped to save the day for the Health Services. Sources in the know, however, said that it must have cost the government a bomb, running into lakhs of rupees to operate the generators.
Fortunately, the mortuary unit has not been affected due to the power crisis. Medico-legal officer, Dr Gawde informed that a dedicated generator has ensured that the air-conditioned system functioned without any problem.
‘3 GENERATORS NOT MAINTAINED SO FAR’
MARGAO: Are the three 500 KVA generators at the disposal of the South Goa district hospital maintained properly over the last one year?
While the generators have come in handy to save the day for the Health Services, sources in the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) pointed out that the three generators have not been maintained so far.
Reason: While the GSIDC has appointed a contractor to look after the upkeep and maintenance of the three generators, the units have not been maintained for the simple reason that the Health Services has not supplied the consumables required to carry out the upkeep and maintenance. “The GSIDC is paying the maintenance charges of the contractor to look after the generators, but in reality, no maintenance has taken place so far for want of consumables from the hospital,” sources said.
