An overflowing septic tank near a toilet complex near the ‘108’ ambulance office and COVID-19 vaccination centre at Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital has become a health hazard and eye sore as well. Patients and visitors complain of unbearable stench too.
The hospital had, a few weeks ago, installed a session site for COVID-19 vaccination at the newly inaugurated District Early Intervention Centre (DEIC) block in the hospital. The block has to be accessed via a small gate, through which only pedestrians are allowed to enter. The leak is across the front of the entrance, which puts off the visitors.
Elderly people who visit the block to receive COVID-19 vaccine cover their nose and enter. “I had visited to enquire about the availability of vaccines and the timings and was taken aback by the sight,” Mr. Devarajan, a resident of Thillai Nagar, said.
Mr. Devarajan said the condition was due to apathy of staff responsible for maintaining the rest rooms and cleaning the septic tanks. “We must not blame the authorities of the hospital. There are sanitary supervisors and other workers whose job is to maintain cleanliness, it is their apathy which puts patients at risk,” he said.
Meanwhile, a sanitary worker said they had sprinkled disinfectant on the leak to ensure that it would not cause any harm to the patients and work to rectify it would be undertaken soon.
