The Gurugram Civil Hospital was without power for almost 12 hours today, forcing doctors to treat patients in the OPD and wards using light from their mobile phones. The power supply, which had snapped on Sunday, could not be restored completely even until the afternoon today, throwing the entire hospital out of gear. Serpentine queues were seen at registration desks as computers were not working and the entire process had to be completed manually. All wards were plunged in darkness with no fans, and many attendants were seen carrying newborn babies in corridors for a gulp of air. “My husband has been admitted here in the orthopaedics ward. The ward is all dark and it’s very warm, and I had to get a hand fan. The temperature is high and all patients are suffering. The doctors are using mobile phone torches to check the patients,” said one of the attendants, Sunita Yadav. While PMO Dr Deepa Jakhar remained unavailable for comments, a senior official revealed that the crisis was exacerbated by the fact that only one of the two generators at the hospital was functional, and it was used only for the emergency and delivery wards. When electricity was restored, the circuit board got damaged and couldn’t be repaired. “We have been facing the problem with the generators for months. We have complained many times, but to no avail,” said a senior official. The entire city is facing a major power crisis with the onset of summer. The HSVP sectors 15, 17, 10, 45, 31 and Palam Vihar are facing power cuts stretching to several hours.
