KARACHI:The underground water reservoirs and overhead tanks of major government hospitals are not being cleaned on regular basis in Karachi, compelling visiting and admitted patients to drink contaminated water in this health facility, it learned on Thursday.
An official at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) told PPI that the underground water reservoirs of this health facility was not being maintained or cleaned on regular basis by the hospital administration. The patients have been compelled to drink health hazardous polluted water.
He said more than 6,000 patients from Karachi, interior Sindh and Baluchistan province, visit different OPDs of the hospital every day. This contaminated water is also supplied to various departments of the hospital and staff colony.
The official said consumption of contaminated and polluted water could develop water-borne diseases among patients and their attendants. He said people had been compelled to purchase mineral water from medical stores for daily consummation.
Similarly, the overhead tanks and underground reservoirs at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Jinnah Hospital Karachi and others districts hospitals were also not being maintained or cleaned since past several months due to slackness of heads of healthcare centers.
Additional Medical Superintendent, Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, Dr Ismail Memon, while talking to PPI, said that chlorination of water was the responsibility of Infectious Diseases Department and they were regularly cleaning the water tanks.