Queues witnessed at Civil Hospital as fitness test for Amarnath Yatra begins

Devotees keen on undertaking the Amarnath Yatra are queuing up outside the Civil Hospital to obtain a fitness certificate, which is a prerequisite for undertaking the pilgrimage.

The yatra is scheduled to begin on July 3 and will conclude by August 9. Registrations for the pilgrimage will begin on April 14 and the procedure for obtaining the mandatory medical fitness certificates started at government hospital this week.

It has been observed that nearly 200-250 applicants have been reaching hospitals every day and most have to return without getting the fitness test done due to the mad rush. Five doctors have been assigned to conduct the tests. With the Civil Hospital already reeling under the shortage of staff, the fitness certificates have become an extra burden on the doctors.

Separate registration counters have been set up for the applicants of the Amarnath Yatra to tackle the rush. While applicants start reaching the hospital early in the morning, the medical examination only starts around 2 pm after the doctors are done with their OPD duties.

Deepak, who went to get his fitness test done on Friday, said he waited for nearly three hours but could not get the test done. “There was a huge rush and long queues of applicants. People were jostling and pushing each other. I will try again on Monday now,” he said.

Another applicant, Radhika, said when she went to the hospital to get the test done the heat was unbearable and there was no arrangement of any safe drinking water around. “The area around water coolers, kept near the blood bank and OPD, was not clean. People were seen asking for water from each other, while many were seen buying water from shops,” said she.

A doctor from the civil hospital said there was a shortage of staff in the hospital already and in addition to this, these extra duties added to the burden of the already over-burdened staff. “Now doctors are first doing their OPDs till 2 pm and then conducting the medical tests,” said he.

Senior Medical Officer, Dr Harpreet Singh said that on an average 200 applicants would undergo medical examination every day and five doctors had been put on duty for the same. The doctors would conduct the test after their OPDs.

Ludhiana