Troubling picture: Rainfall adds to patients’ woes at Civil Hospital

Rainfall received by the city on Monday and Tuesday painted a troubling picture of the Civil Hospital. It left more than puddles and revealed systemic cracks. What was meant to be a healing space now stood surrounded by waterlogged grief and logistical lapses. Children with seasonal fevers tiptoed around sodden swings as parents balance umbrellas and medicine slips. Nurses, clutching their files, navigated through flooded paths.

The tiny patch of green outside the main OPD had transformed into a shallow pond. Swings meant for children awaiting OPD appointments creaked under the weight of soaked ropes and muddied joy. A few children, barefoot and curious, puddled through the water, their laughter clashing against the hospital’s disrepair.

Children with fever and cough, brought in for treatment, now wade through puddles around rusted swings, laughing in rebellion. A father seated nearby sighed, “They come to get cured but end up playing in water. What else can we do?”

“My kid is not well and I have been asking him not to go to the park but he is excited to take swings and walked through the water and I am worried his sickness will get worse as he is already having fever,” said Minnie, a visitor at the hospital.

With water outside the OPD and Emergency wards, it became difficult for patients to make way through. Admitted patients had a more difficult time. A woman waiting near her husband’s bed muttered: “We thought the hospital would keep the sick dry. But here, even rain gets a bed.”

The ICU was inaugurated with great pomp, its ceiling had not braved the season’s first trial. A chunk had collapsed and water dripped dangerously near the equipment. The destitute ward on the first floor told a bleaker story.

A doctor, requesting anonymity, remarked: “This is not the first time. Every spell of rain becomes a test of endurance. We are not only dealing with staff shortage but such infrastructure issues become a hurdle in the smooth functioning of the hospital”.

“The drainage plan was incomplete from the start. This isn’t merely seasonal inconvenience. It’s a civic failure where healing spaces turn hostile with every storm. Till infrastructure rises to meet both care and climate, hospitals will continue to bleed silently between raindrops,” added a doctor on the condition of anonymity.

Ludhiana’s monsoon will pass. But for those on hospital beds, it leaves behind questions heavier than water.

Despite repeated attempts, MLA Sanjeev Arora, who has overseen the renovation and construction work of the Civil Hospital could not be contacted for comments.

SMO of the Civil Hospital Harpreet Singh said a small portion of the ceiling in the ICU had collapsed on Monday and on Tuesday, he got it repaired. Regarding the water getting collected in the hospital, he said they were trying to fix the gaps and also added that people and patients visiting the hospital should also make sure not to litter around on the premises, as polythene and other stuff lead to clogging of drains.