Srinagar, Dec 13: The Jammu and Kashmir government has suspended the plan to construct 250-bed pediatric hospital at Bemina here. The development is seen as a serious setback to the prestigious project of twin Maternity-Pediatric Hospital Project in the backdrop of crumbling healthcare facilities for children in the State.
Following the massive public outrage over hundreds of infant deaths at GB Pant Hospital here, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had ordered construction of a new 250-bed children hospital and 200-bed maternity hospital with common facilities on 70 kanals of land at Bemina on the Srinagar outskirts.
A high level official, wishing anonymity, said the Chief Minister had desired to engage architects specialized in designing of hospitals for the purpose. He said the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) engaged Hospital Services Construction Corporation (HSCC) on the directions of the CM. The HSCC is known for designing AIIMS and other big hospitals in India.
The HSCC officials visited Srinagar a number of times and had discussions with the officials of Health and Medical Education Department and concerned Heads of Departments. The budgetary estimate was Rs 324 crores for the twin hospitals.
However sources said the plan of constructing the pediatric specialty block has been suspended by the government for the time being for unknown reasons while the construction of maternity hospital has been started by the R&B Department in violation of Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines.
Sources said the work has been started as per DPR prepared in 2009 by a local architect with no experience of designing healthcare institutions. The department has gone for horizontal expansion only and the gross floor area is 8833 square meters, which is only 44 square meters per bed. The MCI recommends 70-100 square meters per bed. “The hospital will be like GB Pant Hospital, always short of space,” a doctor said.
Officials said the DPR prepared by R&B Department has no provision for residential accommodation for doctors and paramedics.
Engineers said the JKPCC DPR prepared on the basis of HSCC recommendations had proposed vertical expansion.
“The costs of land are sky-rocketing nowadays and still the construction of mega projects is designed horizontally not keeping provision for future expansion in terms of keeping vacant land,” they said.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 14 Dec 2012 00:00:00 IST