LUCKNOW, Nov. 15 -- At King George's Medical University (KGMU), efforts to secure an early entry into the new OPD begin long before sunrise. With no formal system to manage early-morning queues, many patients and their attendants spend the night outside the out patient department (OPD), guarding plastic bottles and chalk-marked circles that decide their place in the queue. This unusual method of placing bottles to "reserve" a slot and encircling handwritten names on the floor has now become a daily routine. Team HT visited the spot on Wednesday and Thursday nights and found dozens of patients sleeping beside their makeshift markers, ensuring no one tampers with their position before registration begins. Jai Ram, 48, who travelled from Gonda for treatment in the neurology department, said he has been following this practice for months. "Every time I come, I leave a bottle or write my name on the ground with a circle around it. That is the only way to secure an early entry," he said. Kanhaiya Lal, 54, from Sultanpur, echoed a similar view. "I have to arrive a day earlier in the evening, place my bottle and write my name beside it. Only then can I hope to see the doctor without hours of delay." For first-time visitor, Manoj, 37, from Rae Bareli, the system came as a shock. "I didn't know anything about this bottle queue. After reaching here, I realised I had no choice but to follow it," he said. "We have no other option. If we don't follow this process, we won't get an early registration in the morning," said Ruksana, 40, from Unnao, who has been visiting the new OPD for two years. KGMU spokesperson Prof KK Singh acknowledged the situation. He said patients coming from distant districts often arrive overnight and start forming informal queues to be among the first to enter. "However, registration is open from 9 am to 4 pm with no upper limit," he added. The fear of long waiting hours pushes patients to spend the night outside the OPD -turning bottles and chalk circles into a desperate system of survival in the race for medical attention....