Pokhara, November 24

In the face of severe fuel crisis, hospitals in Pokhara have cut back on daily services dramatically.

While they have stopped admitting all but serious patients, different wards have been merged to cater to the patients.

“On the one hand, there is fuel shortage; and on the other; we don’t have drugs. In the midst of such crisis, what else can we do?” said Santosh Khanal, CEO of Pokhara-based Gandaki Medical College, adding that there was no option other than to shut all services in a few days.

According to the college chairperson Khurma Aryal, the crisis has mostly affected surgery.

“Earlier, we would conduct over 20 operations every day, but now they have almost stopped, Except in emergency cases, we’re now putting off all other surgeries to a later date,” Aryal said, adding that 80 per cent of hospital services have been reduced due to the crisis.

The hospital is run on two generators in case of power cut and gets 300 to 400 litres of diesel every week on the recommendation of the chief district officer.

“Thank god we now have more supply of electricity than usual; otherwise, we wouldn’t know what to do with the limited amount of diesel,” said Khanal, adding, the 447-bed capacity hospital now has only 150 patients.

Western Regional Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Shrikrishna Shrestha bemoaned the problem the hospital was facing in feeding patients on account of the shortage of cooking gas, apart from the crisis of life-saving drugs.

Likewise, while the Drugs Dealers Entrepreneurs Association Pokhara vice-chairperson lamented the empty stores, ambulance operators too have voiced the hassles they have been facing due to the fuel crisis.

“Though ambulances are getting limited amount of diesel on the recommendation of the administration, it’s very difficult as we don’t know when we need to rush to carry patients,” said Prakash Silawal, Ambulance Drivers’ Committee, Western Region chairperson, also urging the

emergency vehicle drivers not to take advantage of the difficult times and fleece patients.