SRINAGAR – The lack of proper toilet facility in Kashmir’s lone paediatric hospital has become a major inconvenience for the patients and attendants alike. According to the families whose patients are admitted in GB Pant, Children Hospital in Sonwar, Srinagar, the toilet facility in the hospital premises is in a very bad condition and this toilet facility which was constructed by the BB CANT under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan mission has been turned into a garbage site.
A family from Beerwah accompanying their sick child told Kashmir Images that they are facing a huge inconvenience due to the unavailability of a proper toilet facility in the hospital.“The washrooms are only within the hospital and attendants are not allowed to enter the hospital premises without a pass and in such a situation it becomes very difficult for us to attend nature’s call,” said a female attendant.
“It has been an hour and I cannot find a proper place to answer the call of nature, the canteen has a washroom attached to it but I am not being allowed to use the same by the canteen owner,” alleged an attendant.
Farooq Ahmad, the owner of the canteen told Kashmir Images that we turned one side of the canteen into a washroom just for the convenience of the attendants and patients. But currently the washroom has developed some problems so we have temporarily closed it. “There is a dire need of a proper toilet facility here as the attendants and patients particularly women continue to be the worst sufferers,” he said.
Mohammad Asim, an employee at BB CANT Board who looks after the toilets said, the washrooms used to be in a good condition but eventually the manhole started to overflow and the fecal matter accumulated near the sumo stand that lies adjacent to the hospital. “I was even beaten by the drivers of the sumo stand because of this problem. They later blocked the manhole which led to the dysfunctioning of the toilet facility,” Asim told Kashmir Images.
He further added that the manhole has to be cleared for making the toilets functional again and until now nothing has been done in this regard.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Mission in 2014. As per the figures of the Union Ministry, during 2016-2017, the Jammu and Kashmir overall performance in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was around 33% ahead of Bihar.
