Rain water hits OPD services at KGMU

LUCKNOW: The downpour that battered the city recently led to a a major crisis on the King George’s Medical University campus, as rain water disrupted the network that supports computers in the OPD.

The earthing line got disrupted thrice as rainwater reached the hub (distribution switch) of the internet in the OPD and services were hampered, causing difficulty to patients.

Twice the distribution switch was replaced and even now officials say if rainwater enters the switch, it might conk out again. Each replacement (of the distribution switch) costs over ₹50,000.

About 8000 patients get OPD ticket made at the KGMU every day .

“Now we have asked the electrical department for a separate earthing line for the OPD area. This might solve the problem as checking all the wires is not possible in the OPD building,” said Prof Sandeep Bhattacharya, who is looking after the IT cell of the King George’s Medical University.

As the switch gets defunct, the issue of OPD tickets, reporting from the lab and several other facilities stop running as they depend on computers and net connectivity.

The officials said wires might have been exposed at some point in the building, paving the way for the rain water to reach the switch, which is sensitive to moisture .

But checking the entire wire line would cause more trouble, hence a decision has been taken to replace the old earthing with new line.

The new earthing line, Prof Bhattacharya said, would take a week.

In the meantime, if the rainwater enters the switch again, the services might get disrupted once again.