'We are being treated like animals'- UP patients protest for lack of water

Uttar Pradesh government was left red-faced after a video, showing patients admitted at a Level 1 COVID-19 government hospital in the state's Prayagraj district protesting against lack of water and half-cooked food.

''Kal Raat se pani nahin hai...pyas se mare ja rahen hain.....roti adhi kachhi-pakki dete hain,'' (there has been no water since last night...we will die of thirst...the chapati given to us is also half cooked), the patients could be heard saying in the video, that went viral on the social networking sites.

''Janwar bana diya hai'' (we are being treated like animals), one of the patients is heard saying. The hospital in question was in Kotwa Bani area in Prayagraj.

The three-minute video made by one of the patients by his mobile was widely shared on social media sites. According to the sources the protest took place on Thursday (May 28).

The district health officials in Prayagraj, however, said that the water supply had been interrupted for a few hours. ''Now it has been restored,'' a senior official said on Friday.

Earlier also there had been similar protests at quarantine centres in Agra and Etawah districts. The Mayor of Agra town, one of the worst affected towns in the state, Naveen Jain had also alleged that the quarantine centres in the city lacked adequate facilities.

Apparently, to prevent the inmates at the quarantine centres from making videos, the state government had, a few days back, banned use of mobile phones inside the hospitals.

The government, however, was forced to withdraw the order after the opposition leaders attacked the decision. Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav had said that the government did not want the people to see the real condition of the COVID-19 hospitals in the state.