Survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy have begun a series of protests against the apathy of the administration towards the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre built specifically after the gas leak tragedy in 1984 that killed hundreds of people and maimed countless others.
According to a CNN-IBN report, the hospital is desperately in need of a complete overhaul. When news reports by CNN-IBN in 2010 prompted the Union Government to take over the Hospital, people thought that things would turn out for the better. But unfortunately, things on the ground have only worsened since the hospital shifted hands.
A fresh set of woes for the Bhopal gas tragedy victims as the Hospital lies in utter disrepair. AFP
Bhopal gas tragedy activist Abdul Jabbar said, “When the hospital was taken over the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), we thought things would change. But things have actually gone from bad to worse. ICMR wants to remote control the hospital from Delhi, but there has to be some administration in Bhopal. We demand immediate intervention.”
Patients are now reeling under the effect of mismanagement at the Hospital. CNN-IBN reports suggest that Pulmonary Medicine and Oncology departments have been shut down. The MRI facility is also on the docks. In the crucial psychiatry department, there is just one doctor. Most doctors have deserted the Hospital leaving patients in the lurch.
“The doctors are leaving the hospital because they are not allowed to treat private patients inside the hospital now. Earlier, they made huge money by treating private patients and ever since that was stopped they have started leaving,” Sabina Bi, one of the victims said.
