No fewer than 12 persons, including doctors and cardiac patients, were trapped inside a faulty lift at the super-specialty block of the Government Medical College Hospital here on Monday. They had to wait for over 20 minutes for technical assistance and to get out of the lift.
Defective functioning of sensors led to the stoppage of the machine abruptly, sources said. For the past several months, the fault had remained unrepaired and the lift operators were somehow managing the show, sources said.
Three other lifts in the block too have faulty sensors and damaged mechanical parts. Though several complaints were raised about it, the agency entrusted with the annual maintenance was ignoring the issue, sources said.
“Several important specialties, including cardiology, nephrology and urology, function in the eight-storey super-specialty block. It will take only Rs.15,000 to replace a damaged sensor, but no one is paying attention to the issue,” said a technician at the hospital.
He said there were several occasions where the lift operators were compelled to operate the faulty lifts, following demands from the people and to attend emergency situations.
The situation at the old MCH building is not different where 11 out of the 12 lifts remain non-functional. “There were occasions when the lifts got stuck,” said another technician.
