Kochi: With the pilgrimage season about to start in a month's time, the authorities are all set to launch a new block to the existing 20-bed hospital at Pampa next week but the demand for a permanent, full-fledged setup is yet to materialise.
"All these facilities would be functional only during the pilgrimage season and are temporary in nature. Hence specialised services won't be available even during the season. We've been demanding to convert the facility to at least a Primary Health Centre with specialists being deployed on a permanent basis. Now thousands of pilgrims visit the temple on the first five days of every Malayalam calendar month. Besides, there are about 300 families living in Attathodu Colony," said Dr N. N. Murali, former deputy director of Health Services who earlier held the charge of the government hospital at Sannidhanam.
Nearly 30 to 40 deaths are reported at the pilgrimage centre due to cardiac arrests alone every year.
When contacted, Dr R. Ramesh, additional director of Health Services, said the health services at the facility at Pampa would be enhanced during this pilgrimage season starting November 16.
"A new block constructed under the National Rural Health Mission scheme would be launched next week which would enhance the bed capacity. The ICU and other facilities would be readied well in advance and we'll also deploy specialists this time around," he said.
Dr Murali noted that the pilgrims often suffer from breathing problems, including suffocation, during trekking and it gets aggravated while they are waiting in the queue. "The state government should consider deploying a few paramedics along with the police managing the queue."
Last season, a modern medical centre with services of Allopathy, Homoeopathy and Ayurveda was opened at Pampa.
The 20-bed hospital boasts of facilities like an ICU equipped to handle patients in cardiology, a dialysis unit, and an eudiometry and pulmonary function test facility, among others.
