Though dozens of patients from Sion and other neighbouring areas are referred to KEM for treatment daily, hospital sources say the ward can accommodate only 40 patients. With the extra load, the ward has been forced to accommodate 110 persons, compromising on treatment and patient care. On one occasion, the ward registered 126 patients, several of them emergency cases.

The shortage of mattresses has also made it difficult to even accommodate patients on the floor, a senior doctor said, adding that the congestion could prove unhygienic. This could spread infection, he added.

In ward 14A, Ulka said it took several days for her tobe allotted a bed while Rajshree Gaikwad said she had come to KEM Hospital since the Sion Hospital ward is shut. She said she was in labour when she arrived and the trip to KEM was painful.

Dean of KEM Hospital, Dr R G Shirhatti, said that while the patients could not be refused admission, efforts are on to accommodate some of the patients in peripheral hospitals in Dharavi.

S S Kudalkar, ward officer, Sion Hospital, said the renovation began about two weeks ago with a view to separating the sterile and non-sterile areas to reduce infection. He said it is expected to be completed in about two months.