Govt fails to complete 300-bed hospital in 3 yrs


Mir Tariq Bandipora Feb 20: The government has failed to complete the construction of 300 bed District Hospital (DH) building in North Kashmir district within three years. The work on the 6 crore project is going on at snail’s pace.
The construction of the hospital building was undertaken by Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporation (JKPCC) three years back. At the time of laying foundation stone of the hospital, the government had assured the locals that the hospital building would be completed in the record time of three years and would be functional by 2008. “We were given assurance by the ministers and officials that the construction work will be taken on war footing basis. We were assured that the work on hospital building would be completed in a record time but they failed to keep their words and the hospital building has not been constructed yet,” said Ghulam Ahmed Dar of Nusoo Bandipora. The residents said that the work on the hospital building is going on at snail’s pace. “If the construction work goes at the same pace, then the building would be completed in 10 yrs time,” they said.A resident, Manzoor Ahmad Sofi said that the residents of the area are facing tough time in absence of hospital. “We had hoped that the construction of the hospital building would lessen our problems and the medicare would be available to us at the doorstep,” he said.Keeping in view the slow pace of work, the residents had written to the chief minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad seeking his personal intervention in the matter. They had urged him to direct the authorities to speed up the work on the hospital building. “It seems that chief minister too is not interested in getting the building completed on time. If he had been serious about providing healthcare to people of Valley, he would directed authorities to complete the DH building within a stipulated time,” added elderly resident of Nusso, Abdul Jabbar.He added, “Three years have elapsed since the foundation stone was laid but the construction work seems to heading nowhere”.The hospital was supposed to be built on 100 kanals of land. Of the 100 kanals, 25 kanals are under the occupation of army while 30 kanals have been encroached upon. Now only 45 kanals are left for hospital construction. The residents alleged that the construction site has been turned into a garbage dump with all litter being dumped in the area. “All filth and dead animals are being dumped in the construction site,” they added.Talking to Rising Kashmir, a top official of JKPCC said, “We are facing lot of problems due to storage of material. Besides the construction site has been turned into a waste dump and we have to waste our labourer in getting the garbage cleared from the site”.He further said that the construction for 300-bed hospital needs a minimum of 12 crore sum but the department has been asked to carry out the work in six crores only.