A NDTV ground report from the Nanded hospital revealed shocking conditions.
The Bombay High Court has taken suo moto cognisance of horrific conditions at two hospitals in Maharashtra, including one in Nanded where 31 deaths, including those of 16 children, were recorded in 72 hours. The court demanded details about budgetary allocations and warned the state that if the deaths were due to a lack of manpower or medicines "it will not be tolerated at all".
These details must be submitted by Friday, a bench led by Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya said.
Earlier today an advocate, Mohit Khanna, asked the bench to take up this matter on its own initiative. He was asked to file a petition. However, hours later the court referred to complaints by doctors from the two hospitals - about shortage of beds, staff and medicines - took cognisance.
Apart from the deaths in Nanded, Mr Khanna's letter also referred to 18 fatalities, including those of infants, at a government hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad).
In that incident, out of the 18 deaths, four were listed as 'deceased on arrival' and two were pre-term babies that "weighed only 1,300 grams each", hospital Dean Sanjay Rathod said
"There is no major disparity between number of deaths and total number of admissions," he said.
READ | Another Hospital Tragedy In Maharashtra: 14 Deaths In 24 Hours
NDTV Ground Report
The High Court's action comes after a ground report by NDTV revealed a stomach-churning setting in Nanded, where pigs roamed free on the hospital premises as patients' relatives went about chores.
READ | NDTV Ground Report:From Welcoming A Nephew To Losing Sister In 3 Days
Visuals also showed plastic bottles and wrappers clogging drains.
All in all, the scene at the Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital raised big questions over cleanliness and hygiene - basics expected at any health facility.
READ | NDTV Ground Report: On Camera, Pigs, Filth In Maharashtra Hospital Where 31 Died In 48 Hours
"This is how it is every day," one woman said as she washed a vessel. Another complained, "We can't use the toilet. We get nothing here; we have to go out for medicines and everything else."
A contractual sweeper told NDTV there are not enough staff in the hospital and that one worker is tasked with multiple wards. "The pigs roam here every day. They eat the garbage. There should be two-three cleaners in every ward. How will one person handle multiple wards?" he asked.
MP Makes Dean Clean Filthy Toilet
Meanwhile, one of the many dirty toilets at the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar hospital was cleaned - by Dean Shyamrao Wakode - on instructions of a MP from the ruling Shiv Sena faction.
A video widely circulated online showed the MP, Hemant Patil, standing and holding a pipe with water gushing out of it as Mr Wakode - who has rejected allegations of negligence - cleans the toilet.
READ | In Hospital Where 31 Died In 48 Hours, MP Makes Dean Clean Filthy Toilet
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said Tuesday that his government is taking the "unfortunate" deaths "very seriously". "An inquiry has been ordered and appropriate action will be taken," he said. Mr Shinde firmly denied any shortage of medicines or staff.
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