Mumbaikars are known to ‘adjust’ in small spaces, be it houses or the fourth seat on the local train. But this has been taken to the extreme level at the BYL Nair Hospital’s overburdened medicine ward, where patients are being forced to ‘adjust’ under the beds of other patients! This reporter found at least two patients undergoing treatment under nearly every occupied bed. The dean of the hospital acknowledged they had more patients than beds but said they couldn’t turn them away.

The civic-run hospital is overburdened with patients. Many also come from outside Mumbai as there are nominal fees for the treatment. While it has a total of 1,623 beds, there are only 45 in the medicine ward. A doctor from the medicine ward said, “We have around 45 beds in the medicine ward but every day 60 to 65 patients get admitted. We don’t have options and ask patients to undergo treatment on the floor.”