What are the authorities in the Guwahati Medical College Hospital, the largest hospital in the North-East currently busy doing? Well, they are trying their best to control the population of rats in the sprawling hospital complex. Pulled up by the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and pressured by the Assam Pollution Control Board (APCB), the hospital authorities have launched what has been christened as ‘‘Operation Rodent’’ to make it a rat-free hospital within the next few weeks. The hospital hit headlines last week when a couple of local newspapers here came out with a series of news on how an army of rats had emerged as a major health hazard by invading the GMCH campus, thanks to the dirt and garbage that is common sight there. While the AHRC registered a suo moto case against the hospital authorities and issued notice to them as well as to the state health authorities and the Assam Pollution Control Board, the hospital authorities have pressed into service a large number of mouse-traps. Guwahati Medical College principal Dr K.N. Baruah told The Indian Express that about 80 mouse-traps have been acquired. ‘‘We have fixed a deadline of February 28, within which we expect to bring eliminate the entire rat population in the hospital campus,’’ Dr Baruah said. He admitted that there have been lapses on the part of the authorities in keeping the hospital clean, but not before stating that there was always a shortage of funds standing in the way of proper maintenance of the hospital. There have been also reports of rats finding their way to the different stores of the hospital, often damaging medicine, cotton and other material. Waking up to media reports, the Assam government has also declared the hospital campus as a health zone with Governor S.K. Sinha formally inaugurating the cleanliness operations today. The hospital incidentally has 225 sweepers and other cleaning staff on its payrolls. Over 2.8 lakh patients register in the OPD of the hospital every year. Dr Baruah also admitted that the sewerage system of the hospital was not in good shape. It may be recalled that it was during 1999-2000 that the Centre had released Rs 1.10 crore to the GMC Hospital to construct a sewerage treatment plant, but that is yet to see the light of the day. Dr Baruah said that a number of private sponsors and philanthropic institutions have come forward to extend help.
