The brackish underground water is being supplied to 200-bed Sindh Government Hospital, Saudabad, which has created problems for patients, their attendants, doctors and hospital administration.
Hospital sources said that the water shortage has also affected working of different sections, including emergency department, labour room, gynecology ward, eye, surgery, dialysis unit, operation theatre and outdoor patient departments.
The Saudabad Hospital was established 30 years ago which covers Malir, Saudabad, Shah Faisal Colony, Gadap, Steel Town and other adjoining areas.
The sources informed that from 2,000 to 2,500 patients visit the OPDs of this hospital on daily basis while many injured and trauma cases are also brought to its accident & emergency department.
The patients, their attendants and medical staff have been facing great hardships due to non-availability of clean drinking water in this healthcare facility for past several years.
The matter has already been reported to Sindh Health Department and Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) but it seems they are least concerned about the plight of patients and attendants as there has been no response from them, the sources further said.
The non-availability of clean water is causing inconvenience to the patients and attendants.
The dialysis unit of the hospital is being run through a RO plant. The patients, their attendants and medical staff have been compelled to buy bottled water for drinking and other uses.
The doctors, nurses and paramedical staff of different wards are helpless when patients and their attendants complain of non-availability of water in wards. The hospital administration is providing salty water through boring but it is not fit for drinking.
Saudabad Government Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Rehana Saba Bajwa said said the hospital administration has arranged water through tankers to run OPDs and emergency department smoothly. She agreed that underground water was salty and unfit for human consumption.
She said management was paying all utility bills on regular basis for provision of electricity and water but no potable water was available for drinking and medical uses.
