MUMBAI, July 22: The controversial Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation's (NMMC) 300-bed hospital has run into rough weather again, with the Ganesh Naik camp within the ruling Shiv Sena questioning the need for it.

After raising objections to the project and demanding that the tenders be renegotiated, the Naik faction has climbed down from its earlier stand and demanded a rethink on the project. The hospital has been dogged by controversies right from its inception. Sena corporator Atul Kulkarni had called for cancelling a builder's project adjoining the hospital plot, alleging that the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) had granted a portion from the hospital plot to benefit the builder.

Later, the tender quotation for the project, by contractor G H Khatri and Co at 46 per cent above the officially estimated cost, was also questioned by the policy-making Standing Committee. Commissioner Sudhakar Kulkarni was asked to re-submit the proposal after negotiating to reduce costs with the contractor and the architect Shashi Prabhu.

Ultimately, both Prabhu and the contractor agreed to scale down the costs to 37 per cent above the estimated cost of Rs 10.62 crore, and the administration asked the Standing Committee to approve it. After a marathon 108 minute discussion on the issue, the Standing Committee sent it back to the commissioner asking him to work out a further reduction. During the discussion, Naik accused Prabhu of misleading the NMMC, since the latter had supported the overpricing. ``It is really strange that the engineer who okayed the estimate prepared by the NMMC recommended a higher cost,'' said Naik. He was supported by opposition Congress (I) leader Dyaneshwar Patil.

However, in Saturday's general body meeting, the Naik faction changed its stand and said the project may be unnecessary, given the current financial position of the municipal corporation.

Interestingly, the project was conceived during the tenure of Naik's son Sanjeev, and Prabhu was appointed architect at a fee of three per cent cost of the construction. The Naiks had even performed a bhoomi pooja on the site, where Sena leader Bal Thackeray was the host. The Shiv Sena corporator Bhudaji Bhoir wondered whether the NMMC needed to spend its scarce funds on the hospital. He revealed that the CIDCO had planned to construct a series of hospitals which would provide affordable medicare to the largely middle class population of Navi Mumbai.

The former standing committee chairperson Sashikant Birajdar pointed out that the Reliance company also planned to construct a hospital at Navi Mumbai. ``Instead of struggling with funds, isn't it better to allot a plot to the Ambanis who will construct the project on their own,'' he opined.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.