Around 170 people, including 50 patients and 120 staff members, were evacuated from Surya Hospital in Pune’s Wakad on Sunday after continuous discharge from the nearby Mulshi dam flooded its basement.
“After the water reached the hospital basement, a call was taken to move the patients and the staff to safer areas. All 170 people were safely evacuated to other hospitals and medical establishments in a two-hour joint operation carried out by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the disaster management cell of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Fire Department,” NDRF spokesperson Sachidanand Gawade said.
The patients were moved to nearby hospitals like the Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Mr. Gawade said NDRF teams, during reconnaissance, noted that the hospital was next to Mula river and that water levels were rising owing to discharge from the dam. “In the morning, not much water had entered the hospital premises. But around 1.30 p.m. we got a call requesting immediate evacuation.”
“A few patients, who required immediate care, were shifted out to other hospitals before the rescue teams reached the spot. We assisted in the evacuation of the staff and the remaining patients through ambulances and other vehicles,” Mr. Gawade said.
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