Baramulla: Much to the delight of the people of north Kashmir, J&K administration is mulling to set up a maternity and childcare hospital in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
The hospital is likely to come up at the place of the old hospital building which has around 34 kanal land and has been abandoned ever since the old hospital was shifted to a new place at Kanth Bagh Baramulla.
Officials said that it would be a 100-bedded and first of its kind maternity and childcare hospital in north Kashmir.
The hospital would be constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) scheme.
The Department of R&B, Baramulla, has prepared a DPR to the tune of Rs 20.25 crore submitted by the Government Medical College (GMC), Baramulla officials to the concerned authorities for approval.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, Principal GMC Baramulla, Dr Rubi Reshi said, “We have submitted the initial DPR to the concerned authorities.”
Setting up a maternity and childcare hospital has been a long-pending demand of the people of Baramulla district.
Though the authorities had earlier agreed in principle to set up such a healthcare facility in north Kashmir, acquisition of land remained an issue.
The old hospital building of Baramulla District Hospital has around 34 kanal land that has been lying idle ever since the hospital was shifted to a new place at Kantbagh, Baramulla.
The officials of the GMC Baramulla Associated Hospital said that the concerned land at Baramulla would be utilised for several other activities, which include construction of residential quarters for the faculty besides hostel facility for the students of the Nursing College, and students of BSC Nursing.
“Besides the maternity and childcare hospital, the land will be used for its optimum use,” Dr Reshi. “We have 4 kanal land across the road where some abandoned structures of the hospital stand. Besides their utilization, we are planning to construct multi-storey structures so that all the necessary activities are accommodated in less space.”
As per the 2011 census, the three districts of north Kashmir, Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara have a population of 22,76,166. However, for such a whopping population there is no full-fledged maternity and childcare hospital.
Resultantly, the patients are often referred to Srinagar’s LD Hospital, which is already over burdened with patient rush. “The project will be a huge relief for north Kashmir,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, a civil society member.