21 deaths at state-run Hyderabad hospital not due to power cut: Govt

Reports say power supply tripped around 3 pm on July 22 and thereafter interruption continued at regular intervals

The death of 21 patients at a state-run hospital in Hyderabad in July "cannot be attributed" to power failure, the government said in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

The Telangana government has constituted a team of three engineers to ascertain the cause of interruption in power supply at Gandhi hospital, Minister of State for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste said in written reply to a question.

"The state government has informed that the news report (regarding deaths due to power failure) was enquired into and was not found true.

"Though there was power outage on July 22 due to maintenance work undertaken by Electricity Board, but the cause of deaths of patients cannot be attributed to power failure in the said hospital," Kulaste said.

He was asked whether the government has taken note of the reported deaths of 21 patients at the hospital.

The statement from the government came after the National Human Rights Commission issued a notice to the Telangana government over the reported power failure resulting in the death of the patients.

According to the reports, the power supply at the hospital first tripped around 3 PM on July 22 and thereafter the interruption continued at regular intervals.

There were four generators on standby, but they too developed snag and could not be used when power lines were disconnected to find the cause of the tripping.

Kulaste said the state government has informed that on an average approximately 25 deaths occur daily at the hospital.