Chandigarh power outage: Hospitals postpone surgeries, shift out the vaccine stock

“Since morning, we were grappling with getting things in order, as the power supply in GMSH-16 was cut off at 5 am and it was restored only at 1.30 pm. Though we have a backup, it is very tough to work in these situations. The lifts were not operational, many machines, equipment and refrigerators work at a certain temperature, require high power and cannot work on generators. Vaccines from many health and wellness centres had to be shifted, as we did not want to take any risk of them getting spoilt. We had to postpone all elective surgeries and our main focus was the emergency and labour room. So many patients and staff faced inconvenience. Power is an essential service and this is not the right way to register a protest,” said Dr Suman Singh, Director Health Services.

Power supply to GMCH-32 disrupted at 2 am

At 2.00 am Tuesday morning, the electricity supply to GMCH-32 was disrupted, though generators automatically switched on within 30 seconds. According to Dr Sudhir Garg, the Medical Superintendent, all critical areas and other clinical areas did not face any problem as they are all connected to generators. Senior doctors and other electrical staff posted in the hospital closely monitored the situation. With the intervention of the Chandigarh Administration, the electricity supply was restored at 5.00 am and since then it has been continuing. “As a precautionary measure to avoid overloading the generators and in the interest of patients’ safety, elective surgeries scheduled for today were postponed. The emergency and labour room were functional and we have another backup of generators,” said Dr Garg.

PGI monitoring power situation

A statement issued by the PGI said that it is coordinating with the UT Administration to ensure an uninterrupted supply of electricity to the institute. The situation is being viewed seriously and a senior engineer has been deputed at the 66 KV substation here. For critical areas, there is a backup source for four days and officials here are microscopically monitoring the situation to ensure that no hospital service is impacted.