Delhi: Newborn Dies During 7.5-Hour-Long Power Cut At Hospital, Mayor Orders Probe

Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi has requested the MCD to launch an immediate inquiry into the death of an infant at Kasturba Gandhi Hospital to identify the root cause behind the incident.

Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi has ordered MCD to conduct immediate inquiry into the death of an infant at Kasturba Gandhi Hospital.

Source : PTI

An infant allegedly died at the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital on August 22 due to the non-availability of power back up during a planned shutdown that lasted for 7.5 hours. In view of the incident, Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Friday directed the MCD Commissioner to launch an immediate inquiry into the case and identify the root cause of the infant's death.

"One media report indicates that an infant has unfortunately died due to non availability of power back up, during a planned shut down at the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital on August 22, 2024. You are requested to immediately set up an inquiry to get to the root of the matter & identify the cause of this most unfortunate incident so that we can initiate action accordingly," the order read.

Mayor Dr. Shelly Oberoi directs the MCD Commissioner to launch an immediate inquiry into the infant death caused by a power backup failure during a planned shutdown at Kasturba Gandhi Hospital on August 22, 2024. pic.twitter.com/tRt7xC9uLL

— IANS (@ians_india) August 23, 2024

According to Hindustan Times, the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, run by the MCD, operated in the dark on Thursday after the power cut which was supposed to last for three hours between 1 pm to 4 pm, extended to a 7.5 hour-long-powercut, ending at 8 pm. The report said that a newborn had died during this power cut period.

Healthcare workers from the hospital stated that the power cut was scheduled to replace main power supply's switch gears. However, the work could not be completed which caused the delay of over four hours.

"Two deliveries in the labour room were carried out with the help of torches," a health care worker told HT.

MCD Refutes Power Outage Claims, Says 'NICU Was Working Continuously'

In reponse to his charges, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) issued a statement saying, "It has been told that after delivery, the infant was not breathing. So he was kept on a ventilator in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and his parents were being informed about his health condition."

"The power backup of the ventilators of the NICU was working continuously," it added.

The civic body also said that the infant passed away due to an illness after being on the ventilator for five days.

Kapoor stated that the Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva has set up a team of party councillors, headed by Yogita Singh, to visit the hospital on Saturday, August 24.

Delhi BJP Demands Probe Into Infant's Death

Earlier today, BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor alleged in a letter to Delhi LG VK Saxena that the infant's death occurred due to a ventilator failure at the hospital, which was caused after a power outage.

Claiming that the child died due to negligence at the Kasturba Hospital of the MCD, he said: "The hospital administration did not make any alternative arrangements for the ventilators or the operation theatre, resulting in the death of a child on a ventilator, after the outage." 

In the letter to the LG, Kapoor also said: "Kasturba Gandhi Hospital is Asia's largest maternity hospital that was once a specialised treatment facility for women but is now going through a severe crisis." 

He further urged the Delhi LG to personally inspect the hospital's deteriorating condition and order a probe into the unfortuante death of the infant.