Pavement dwellers camp on Coimbatore Medical College Hospital campus, pose safety threats

COIMBATORE: Pavement dwellers have again begun camping on the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital campus. Hospital authorities said they posed safety threats, often defecated in the open, dirty the premises and occupied space meant for patient attenders and car parking.
Hospital authorities approached the Race Course police twice this month to remove the encroachers from the premises.

On Monday afternoon, a group of four, including a man and three women washed their hands behind the Amma Canteen and settled down on the hospital pavements posing like any other group of patient attenders. Two suspicious security officers and a ward in charge, from the centenary building, asked them if their relative was admitted to hospital. They mentioned a name and illness. Such a patient could not be found on the records. What followed was a tussle with the security trying to physically make them leave and the dwellers refusing to.

GH authorities said the number of pavement dwellers squatting on the hospital premises had increased over the past two months.

“The police do not take strict action and the people they vacate come back two days later. The problem has become worse after summer set in,” said a hospital security guard.


“They insist on sitting on the pavements because there is a shelter above their heads, and every time we direct vehicles, we have to ensure these people don’t get run over or injured. That will become another issue,” he added.

Dean Dr B Ashokan said he had informed the police multiple times. “The police come and remove them. But they can’t stand guard here every day. Since it is an open gate, they casually walk in after a couple of days again,” he said.

“They eat at Amma Canteen because it is inexpensive and healthy and sometimes even get food from NGOs who come to GH to supply food to poor attenders. The NGOs don’t refuse anyone who stand in front of them for food,” he added.

A doctor said these pavement dwellers often got inside wards and slept on empty beds to enjoy a fan. “They defecate in the open, dirtying the campus. They are also a safety threat to other attenders and to themselves in the GH where we already have a paucity of space,” he added.