A protest march by the Youth Congress to the Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam on Friday demanding the resignation of Health Minister Veena George over the death of a woman in a building collapse at the hospital on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: VISHNU PRATHAP
A day after the collapse of a building at the Kottayam Government Medical College Hospital that claimed one life, the District Collector on Friday commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
As part of the investigation, the Collector visited the site of the collapse to conduct a preliminary assessment. The affected area was a bathroom complex attached to the main and oldest building of the hospital. The official is slated to submit the report to the government within a week.
Official sources , meanwhile said, the inspection clearly revealed that the hospital authorities had allowed patients and visitors in the 10th ward to use these washrooms temporarily to avoid the inconvenience of travelling long distances for their basic needs.
Maintenance work
“Given that this is a post-operative ward, it is challenging for patients and their companions to walk a considerable distance to access washrooms. Therefore, we conducted basic maintenance work to ensure that these facilities were available for their use. Patients and bystanders were not compelled to use these bathrooms,” said an official.
Notwithstanding an assertion by Health Minister Veena George that the Public Works department (PWD) had reported the building as unsafe in 2013, some hospital employees maintained that the same PWD had subsequently deemed the building safe for use. The Collector is also learned to have sought a clarification on this conflicting information.
‘No delay’
Meanwhile, the Collector too maintained there was no delay in conducting rescue operations after the building collapsed. “As soon as the information was received that someone was trapped in the debris, excavators were dispatched to the site. The only delay was in transporting the equipment to the location of the accident. This toilet was for the patients coming after operation in the ward,” he said.
The government has directed the District Collector to conduct an investigation and submit a report following widespread protest over the incident. Medical College Hospital Superintendent T. K. Jayakumar, Principal Varghese P. Punnoose, hospital authorities, Revenue and PWD officials were in the team inspecting the site.
Published – July 04, 2025 09:09 pm IST
