By Fazal Khaliq
MINGORA: Residents of Barikot tehsil on Tuesday appealed to the provincial and federal governments to rebuild the civil hospital extensively damaged in the Oct 26 earthquake.
According to the district health office in Swat, a total of 30 medical facilities, including civil hospitals, BHUs and dispensaries suffered damage in the quake.
Of the 30 health facilities, three were declared dangerous as huge cracks had developed in the buildings. Among them is the Barikot Civil Hospital, constructed in 1962, where big cracks appeared in its structure.
“The earthquake has damaged the male and female wards, dental block, out patients departments, X-ray block and operation theatre where big cracks surfaced during the earthquake,” Medical Officer, Dr Wasim Zarin said, adding the hospital’s main water tank also got damaged.
He said despite the damage, the hospital was fully functional as there was no other building available to shift some of the blocks there.
According to the hospital administration, an average of 500 patients visited the health centre daily which reduced to a half after the earthquake. “We provided 24-hour services in the delivery cases while about 50 surgeries were daily conducted in the hospital,” Dr Zarin added.
The residential complex comprising five bungalows and 10 quarters was also badly damaged.
Fazal Hayat, an employee, said that condition of the residential quarters got worse after the earthquake. “The quarters are no more livable as they received heavy damage in the quake,” he said, adding despite that the staff continued to live there as there was no accommodation nearby.
The Barikot Civil Hospital caters to the medical needs of about 0.5 million people, but now majority of patients prefer to go to Saidu Sahrif Teaching Hospital which is 30 kilometers from the Barikot hospital.
Merajuddin, a resident of Barikot and president of the local traders association, said people were concerned about the damage caused to the hospital by the quake.
“This is the only hospital in the entire tehsil which was constructed by the rulers of Swat, but now we don’t know when will the government repair or reconstruct it,” he asked.
He said as the hospital was situated on the main GT road, it also served tourists and other passengers injured in road accidents. That’s why, he said, its immediate reconstruction was necessary.
When contacted, District Health Officer Dr Syed Ali said that a list of the earthquake affected hospitals, BHUs, and dispensaries had already been sent to the health department for repair and reconstruction.
