Mir Farhat
SRINAGAR, Jan 11: The much hyped Super-Specialty Hospital (SSH) in Srinagar, construction on which was started 6 years ago has missed eight deadlines so far and waiting for completion.
The construction on the hospital building was started in 2008, at Shireen Bagh near SMHS Hospital Srinagar. The hospital is meant for providing tertiary medicare to the people of the Valley. The project that was to be completed in December 2009 has missed eight deadlines so far.
Entangled between the slow pace of work carried out by the Central Public Works department (CPWD) and deficiency of funds and many official alibis, the hospital has not been thrown open to public yet.
CPWD, which is the executing agency, took up the construction of Super Specialty Hospital in 2008, at an estimated cost of around Rs 115 crore, which was later revised to Rs 137 crore. While Rs 115 crore was the Central share, the remaining amount was to be contributed by the State Government.
Taken up under Pradhan Mantri Swashtya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), the 220-bed hospital, of which 172 beds are for in-patients and 26 for Intensive Care Unit, was projected to house nine super-specialties–neuro-surgery, cardio vascular thoracic surgery, plastic surgery, pediatric surgery, urology, neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology and nephrology.
Initially, several issues like non-cooperation between CPWD and the Government Medical College (GMC) authorities over funds and providing some basic facilities like providing electricity and water supply connection delayed the construction of the ambitious project.
Officials in the SMHS blamed the CPWD for its failure to complete the hospital building on time and hand over the building to the GMC.
“The construction of the hospital building was started way back in April 2008 by the CPWD and they were supposed to complete it by December 2009,” Deputy Medical Superintendent Dr Ajaz Baba told Excelsior, adding that the agency failed to complete the project within the stipulated time.
“The officials of the CPWD are inaccessible. They even switch off their cell phones when we try to approach them over the delay in construction”, said Baba.
The staff like specialist doctors and paramedics to run the hospital has mostly been recruited. Since the building has not been completed, they are temporarily attending the patients in the SMHS building, already grappling with huge patient rush.
Not only patients the staff is also worried over the delay in completing the building. One of the recruited staff member said that it makes no sense to attend patients at make-shift places. “These patients need special treatment which we can’t provide him here”, he said.
“Patients are not damaged cars which can be checked at roadside spaces. For a doctor to properly check and treat a patient, a well built space, equipped with modern machinery is needed. We have been attached with the other departments of SMHS which makes no sense. It hampers and affects our work,” said a surgeon of the Super-Specialty hospital.
The promises made by Ministers have gone in vain. Last year the then Minister of Health and Medical Education, Taj Mohi-ud-Din said that the super-specialty hospital will be made functional in September 2014.
The CPWD had even assured the former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that it will complete the project by June 2012. But nothing was done practically by CPWD.
In 2012, the Chief Engineer CPWD Northern Zone SK Garg had made law and order problem an alibi for their slow pace of work on the building.
“Our work is slow primarily on account of frequent law and order problems gripping Kashmir. Whenever trouble erupts, our skilled labour leaves the Valley and in such a situation, work comes to standstill,” Chief Engineer CPWD Northern Zone SK Garg had said. But two years had passed after his statement the building is not completed yet.
Repeated attempts to contact CPWD’s Executive Engineer, Karamveer Singh, who had said in October 2012 that the building would be completed within 2- 3 months, failed as his mobile number is not working. The officials at SMHS criticized the CPWD, accusing it of taking people’s lives and health non-seriously.
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