IGGGMC breeding ground for mosquitoes
The area behind the boys dorm on the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College (IGGMC) campus is cluttered with discarded plastic bottles and other debris, is filled with stagnant and stinky water, and has become a mosquito breeding ground. Four more hostel guests are said to have tested positive for dengue.
Unseasonal rains and water logging, according to doctors, would result in mosquito breeding and an increase in diseases such as dengue, malaria, and chikungunya. However, light rainfall on Wednesday exposed Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMC) to water-borne infections.
When I went to the hospital, I noticed that, aside from the tiny puddles and garbage, the entire area behind the boys’ hostel was flooded. The area has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes due to its squalor and stagnant water.
Officials are in denial, claiming that dengue mosquitos thrive in clean water and that the water behind the hostel is so filthy that even mosquito eggs will not survive. The officials’ lack of empathy in the face of the situation raises questions.
Mayo officials blamed citizens in Mominpura for the catastrophe, claiming that several individuals had blocked the IGGMC’s water faucets. They stated that they had written to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s zone incharge and the PWD about the matter, but nothing substantial had been done about it. “People of Mominpura need to be educated about sanitation and hygiene issues,” they said.
Aside from the water logging, it was concerning that patients were being transported through departments on wheelchairs and stretchers with no weather resistance gear. As they were wheeled back to their wards, a guy with a fractured leg shrouded his plastered limb with a plastic sheet, while an elderly woman draped herself with a shawl.
According to sources, there is no solution to this problem because the hospital has multiple unconnected buildings to which patients must be referred. They must walk some distance in the open because the buildings are not linked together by a shaded hallway. The use of a rickshaw is laborious and inconvenient for most people.
Despite doctors’ warnings, what is the ordinary man to do while the medical center is in such a state? Not only rain, but water piling behind the boys hostel for months creates serious concerns about student safety.