No hospital for 70 lakh people in Kashmir

Only Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences is functional

Srinagar: Many hospital buildings in Jammu and Kashmir's capital have been left in ruins by the recent floods. According to reports, almost all of the hospitals' specialised medical equipment -- MRI systems, X-ray machines, ECG machines among others - have been severely damaged.

Nearly two weeks after the floods hit, water is still being pumped out from the rooms of many hospitals, while the silt left behind by the receding flood waters is yet to be cleared.

Medical services across Kashmir, which witnessed its worst flood in nearly a century, are still crippled, and the nearly 70 lakh locals seem to have little option when it comes to seeking critical medical succour.They are now entirely dependent on the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences or SKIMS hospital, a tertiary-care medical facility at Soura in the northern part of the capital. "On an average, we used to do 100 CT scans a day, more than 40 MRIs, unlimited X-rays. We don't know where patients are going to go now," rued Dr Omar Kirmani, a doctor at SMHS hospital.