LARKANA, May 20: As many as 11 surgeries had to be postponed on Monday when a big chunk of cemented plaster in the main operating theatre (OT) of the Chandka Medical College Hospital’s urology department fell off just before the start of the day’s work.

“Fortunately, no doctor, paramedical staff or patient happened to be inside the OT when the debris fell onto the operating table,” said Prof Malik Hussain Jalbani, the head of the urology department.

CMCH project director Shabir Panhyar inspected the OT-I and OT-II rooms of the department soon after the incident and declared them ‘dangerous’, saying that a similar or bigger incident could happen any time because of the condition of the structures.

Prof Jalbani announced that no surgeries in these theatres would be carried out until a complete repair.

Sources in the department attributed the incident to seepage which, they observed, had weakened the concrete structures.

CMCH medical superintendent Dr Safiullah Abbasi also visited the damage site and stressed the need for immediate repair work, saying that a large number of patients needing surgery at the department would have to suffer if the repair work was delayed.

The building housing the department had been constructed in 1998 and has a total of three operating theatres. There had been evidence of seepage weakening the roofs of the OT rooms and finally led to the collapse of about 10-15 feet portion of one room’s roof.