‘Even poor patients have to buy water’: Most dispensers at LNJP out of order

New Delhi: As Delhi continues to bake, its largest state govt-run tertiary care health centre, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, is grappling with an acute shortage of drinking water, leaving patients, attendants and healthcare workers sweating at the peak of summer.A visit to the hospital on Wednesday revealed that most of the drinking water dispensers across its campus were non-functional. At least eight of them checked by TOI, including units at the gynecology ward, waiting room, neonatal unit, OPD block and OT block, were defunct.Only two taps in a couple of other dispensers were operational, dispensing a slow trickle of lukewarm water as patients and attendants patiently queued up in front of them with bottles. Hospital staffers said the situation has persisted for the past few weeks, forcing them and visitors to hop from one machine to another in search of drinking water, before being eventually forced to purchase bottled water from shops.“The water from the hospital dispensers tastes bad and most coolers are not working. Even the poorest of the patients are being forced to spend money on bottled water,” said a security guard stationed near the OPD block, two empty bottles in his hands.“Both patients and doctors are facing this issue. We have been informed the contract of the RO company responsible for maintaining the purifiers has expired, and that the renewal is pending. As a result, almost the entire hospital is without access to free, clean drinking water,” a senior resident said.Patients and attendants described the situation as “inhuman”, considering the brutal heat. “My mother is admitted here. We have been buying water bottles because none of the coolers is working. We don’t want cold water, just normal water, but there’s none at all,” said Kishor, who lives in Wazirabad.“I refilled this bottle at the railway station before reaching here, but later found that the condition here is very bad,” said another attendant who came from Lucknow to see an ailing relative. Still carrying a rail neer bottle, he was seen buying a two-litre cold water bottle to give the patient.Another attendant said, “In this heat, clean drinking water is a basic necessity. People are already worried about treatment expenses, and now they are having to spend extra money just for drinking water.”Hospital officials said they are looking at this issue and that the problem will soon be resolved.The crisis comes weeks after chief minister Rekha Gupta flagged off a citywide heat action campaign titled “Garmi Se Jung, Delhi Sarkar Ke Sang”, aimed at protecting vulnerable residents during extreme summer conditions. Govt claimed the initiative would benefit over 2.5 lakh people across the capital.