Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Director SKIMS and EOSG, Prof. M. Ashraf Ganie, carried out an on-the-spot inspection of the waterlogged SKIMS Medical College Hospital in Bemina on Monday, following a spell of heavy rainfall that left parts of the campus submerged and disrupted the smooth functioning of hospital services. The visit came as the wider Kashmir valley continued to grapple with the fallout of persistent rain, with several low-lying areas across Srinagar reporting similar drainage failures.
Walking through the affected sections of the hospital, Prof. Ganie took stock of the extent of water accumulation and its impact on patient movement, outpatient services and general hospital operations. He directed the Engineering Wing to immediately deploy dewatering pumps and mobilise every available resource to clear the accumulated water at the earliest, making clear that restoring normal hospital functioning could not wait.
Beyond the immediate response, the Director signalled that this was not a problem to be patched over year after year. Calling for a permanent and sustainable solution to what has become a recurring monsoon headache for the Bemina facility, he ordered a detailed technical report to be submitted within a week, examining the root causes behind the flooding and the gaps in the existing drainage infrastructure. He also announced the constitution of a high-level committee tasked with drawing up a long-term flood mitigation plan, one intended to shield the hospital from similar disruption in future spells of heavy rain.
Prof. Ganie reiterated that uninterrupted patient care remains the institution’s highest priority, stressing that no administrative or infrastructural challenge should be allowed to compromise the treatment of patients who depend on the facility. SKIMS Medical College Hospital, Bemina, serves as a key referral centre for patients across Srinagar and adjoining districts, and any disruption to its functioning carries consequences well beyond the campus itself.
The waterlogging at Bemina fits into a broader pattern this monsoon season, with heavy and sustained rainfall battering large parts of Jammu and Kashmir over the past several days, straining drainage systems, hospital infrastructure and civic services across both divisions. Monday’s directive from the SKIMS Director reflects a growing recognition within the health administration that ad-hoc fixes are no longer adequate, and that Kashmir’s premier medical institutions need durable, engineered solutions to withstand the region’s increasingly erratic weather patterns.
