Sunday mid-day decided to do a test drive of just how easy it is for anyone to enter civic hospitals. Armed with nothing but government-issued ID cards like Aadhaar and PAN, our reporter sauntered into Sion Hospital around 8.30 pm on Wednesday.

The sheer volume of patients, visitors, and staff was overwhelming. Despite the presence of state force Maharashtra Suraksha Bal, the Mumbai Police, and BMC wardens at various checkpoints, with many of them on routine rounds, the atmosphere felt more chaotic than controlled. The hospital’s lack of crowd management made it easy for us to become just another face in the crowd. Entering the main building was disturbingly easy. We saw nearly no interference from the security personnel, who seemed more occupied with watching CCTV footage and chatting with colleagues. A woman guard stood at the gate, but was oblivious to our presence as she was chatting with a fellow security officer.