Dirty water hits eye surgeries at Hyderabad's Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital

Hyderabad: Saline bottles have come to the rescue of patients who have to undergo emergency surgeries at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital as the hospital is not getting supply of clean water.

Lack of clean water has halted 150 surgeries in the eye hospital for the past few days and the number is expected to pile up as surgeries are not expected to take place at least till Monday.

The hospital has three lines through which it receives water from the Asifnagar filter bed. But due to replacement of valve work at Asifnagar, there was no water supply to the hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday and no surgeries could take place.

Water samples sent for testing to IPM

When the water supply was resumed at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital by Thursday, the water quality was doubtful. A senior doctor at the hospital said, “The water which we are receiving is turbid and red. There might be some infection causing bacteria in the water. The surgical tools are washed with the water before sterilization and doctors wash their hands with this water after operating. There is a chance that bacteria might cause infections in patients’ eyes, which will complicate matters more for them. As of now, for emergency surgeries we are using saline from bottles instead of tap water.”

The hospital has sent water samples for testing to the Institute of Preventive Medicine and the results are expected to arrive by Monday. The hospital is planning to install water purifiers soon so that the turbid water can be cleaned.

The doctor said, “While the red colour due to mud can be removed through purification, we need confirmation from IPM that there are no infection causing bacteria in the water.”

Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.