The work on the much-awaited Maternity-cum-Childcare Hospital (M&CCH) building in Kangan area of Ganderbal district has witnessed an inordinate delay.
Locals said that the foundation stone for the 100-bed Maternity-cum-Childcare Hospital Kangan had been laid six years back during the National Conference (NC)-Congress coalition government.
However, the work on the hospital is yet to be completed despite passage of six years.
The hospital is coming up at an estimated cost of Rs 27 crore and the project is being executed by J&K Housing Board.
The work on the hospital building had been stopped many times in the past few years due to which the aim of setting up the hospital was dying.
Locals said that if the work continues at the snail’s pace, it may take many years to complete it.
Locals said that with the completion of work on the hospital, the people of the area would receive best maternity and childcare facilities and they would not have to move to other towns and city hospitals.
They said that in absence of proper maternity facilities at the Sub District Hospital Kangan, the hospital to a great extent does a good work but, many a times, maternity patients with serious complications from far off areas have to travel nearly 100 km to reach LalDed Maternity hospital in Srinagar.
Locals said that this sometimes proves fatal for the patients.
They said that if the work on the new maternity hospital had been made completed and made functional, it would provide relief to the female folk.
“Kangan hospital receives gynae patients from different areas and with the available resources the team of gynae doctors carries several minor and major surgeries, but, at times, due to non-availability of certain facilities, the patients are referred to Srinagar hospitals which can be a risky for them,” locals said.
They said proper functioning of the maternity hospital at Kangan would have eased rush of maternity patients from the area to Srinagar hospitals.
Chief Medical Officer Ganderbal, DrMehraj Ahmed Sofi told Greater Kashmir that about 70 percent of the work on the new Maternity and Childcare Hospital Kangan had been completed.
He said the rest of the work would be taken up this year so that the hospital is ready.
Dr Sofi said that the completion of MCH Kangan would bring relief to the maternity patients as they would receive proper and specialised treatment at the facility.