The Madras High Court on Friday called for a status report from the Director of the Institute of Child Health and the Hospital for Children in Egmore on the sanitary conditions prevailing inside as well as outside the hospital building.
A Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and R. Hemalatha issued the direction on a public interest litigation petition filed by activist K. Amanullah Khan of Royapettah complaining about unhygienic conditions prevailing outside the hospital.
During the course of hearing, the senior judge in the Bench told the petitioner’s counsel that the condition inside the building might not be very different from what was prevailing outside and called for a report from the director by February 27.
In his affidavit, the petitioner stated that ICH was a very reputed institution which caters to the needs of not only the residents of Chennai but also those from other districts. He said, the institute provides affordable healthcare to the poor at State cost.
“It is needless to state that any hospital should be neat and clean. Not only its interiors but also the locality around the hospital premises should be maintained hygienically. Ironically, the surroundings around ICH is unhygienic,” he claimed.
The petitioner claimed that the Corporation had placed garbage bins right at the entrance to the hospital leading to severe stench in the hospital. Those bins were also acting as a breeding place for mosquitoes.
Not just the patients but also the pedestrians using the pavement adjoining the hospital campus as well as motorists were put to hardship due to the garbage bins having been placed at the entrance, his affidavit read.
Claiming to have made a representation to the hospital director as well as the Greater Chennai Corporation in this regard on November 25, the petitioner sought for a direction to the officials concerned to remove the garbage bins forthwith and maintain the hospital in a hygienic condition.
