Many hospitals in the Nepalese capital are facing a serious medicine shortage due to the ongoing blockade on the the Indo-Nepal border, affecting the supply of fuel and essential life saving drugs.
The Paropakar Maternity and Women's Hospital here, the oldest maternity hospital of Nepal, has been facing severe medicine crunch since the blockade on the border started affecting the supply of essential goods, including medicines.
According to Amarnath Amatya, Administrator of the hospital, surgeries have been hindered due to the medicine crunch.
The hospital has been providing medication to few expecting mothers with the limited drugs available in its store. But the stock is also likely to run short of medicines within few days, he said.
The medicines could hardly last for a week or more, he added.
The hospital has requested to the government to provide oxygen cylinders and other essential medicines.
The daily requirement of the hospital comprises of 10 cylinders of oxygen gas, one cylinder of cooking gas, 110 liters of diesel and 10 liters of petrol, according to hospital staff.
Furthermore, the ambulance services provided by the hospital have been cut down following the ongoing fuel crisis.
The 600-bed hospital, which earlier received more than 100 patients, now receives about 60-70 patients in a day.
Some 300 trucks filled with medicines have been stranded in Raxaul, India, the main trading point between the two countries, for weeks due to the blockade.
The Indian-origin Madhesi people have enforced a blockade in the southern plains of Terai demanding more representation and separation of the plains from hilly areas under the newly-enacted Constitution.
Meanwhile, only 60 per cent of the private and boarding schools in the Kathmandu Valley have opened after the Dussera and Deepawali holidays.
Although the schools were planning to reopen after the festival season, continuing fuel shortage has forced them to change their decision, authorities said.
Mukunda Sharma, principal of Little Angels School which opened on Monday after a long break, said they have very limited stock of diesel to ferry students and if the government fails to supply adequate fuel, they might have to halt classes again.
