Srinagar
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, patients admitted in the hospitals of Kashmir Valley spend shivering nights in absence of heating arrangements while the hospital authorities await 15 November to turn on the air conditioning, the date set by the authorities as the beginning of winters.
The month of November saw IIOJK’s most districts witnessing a sharp decrease in night temperatures.
While the extreme cold has made most people uncomfortable, the situation gets worse in hospitals, especially for the patients admitted.
In SMHS Hospital, Bone and Joint Hospital, Lal Ded Hospital, GB Pant Hospital, Soura Hospital and most other hospitals, the central heating system is yet to be started.
Hospital administrators told media that the heating systems in hospitals are started on 15 November as per the directions of the authorities. “It is an order, we can do very little about it,” a senior administrator said.
Many attendants of the patients have been complaining that the cold has made the recovery of their patients slower and in some cases worsened the condition of the patients.
Manzoor Hakak, whose father, a 77-year-old patient is admitted at SMHS Hospital said his father has not slept through the four nights since he was brought to the hospital.
“He had fever and chills and no matter how many blankets we wrap him into, he still shivers through the night,” he said.
The distraught son said the family arranges hot water bottles from the canteen to keep the patient warm. “However, him being diabetic, we are worried that he might develop a blister that would start another round of problems for him,” Hakak said.—KMS
