Kottayam: A portion of a building which is part of the Kottayam medical college has collapsed with three people including an infant suffering minor injuries. It was the 14-th ward which had been utilized as the Orthopedic ward that is collapsed as per initial reports.
Sources from the medical college say that the building itself was in a dilapidated state which was kept unused for over an year as the government had plans of building a new Orthopedic unit 40 meters away from the building.
Police and fire-force where quickly deployed at the spot to ensure the speedy rescue operations were carried out. Rescue and safety operations are still underway. Reacting to the incident, health minister Veena George said that there is no need of any concern as the building was an old building which was kept unused and the health department was planning to bring down the building and construct a new building near the vicinity.
However, media houses who were reporting the incident pointed out the details of the weak structures and concrete gaps that were found in the roof of the currently operating wards in the medical college thus revealing the brief picture of the maintenance work conducted in the buildings located in the medical college premises.
Minister VN Vasavan who was present at a meeting in Kottayam said that the building was already decommissioned and was unused for a long time and hence was not a matter of concern.
While the incident took place at the medical college premises, Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was present in Kottayam holding a review meeting.