Let down! A hospital where lifts don’t work

Bengaluru: On November 6, a family of three got stuck for nearly 40 minutes in the elevator at Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institution (SABVMCRI). Without a lift operator to manage the situation, the family were alone in the lift. Fire and Emergency Services personnel had to rush to the medical college to rescue the family.

Two weeks have passed since the unfortunate incident, but hospital authorities seem to be waiting to clock another major disaster before fixing the problem. There are no lift operators in any of the five elevators at the hospital.

News Trail used the lifts and found their movement was not smooth. It’s a hazardous situation in the 11-storey building, where the elevators are used by around 300 medical students and 50 staff.

Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad has promised to raise the issue in the forthcoming Assembly session.

Dr Abhijit Patil, the Dean of SABVMCRI says that a tender has to be floated to invite bidders for outsourcing lift operators. “We could not engage operators last year due to the pandemic. The tender process should be completed within the month.”