MUMBAI, January 18: The opening of a new casualty ward at the S K Patil hospital, Malad (east), has been put on hold due to a cash crunch in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Following a cut in expenditure by all civic departments, the opening of the ward has been deferred for the moment.Municipal commissioner Girish Gokhale said it was not possible to make additional budget provisions to start the ward at the moment. He added that the required changes in the structure of the building, including the installation of a lift, have already been carried out from provisions made in the 1995-96 budget.
An official of the health department stated that the department would demand a budgetary provision in the forthcoming budget to enable the ward to start functioning. He said the absence of this facility for patients in municipal hospitals at Andheri and Borivli had led to many complaints from councillors and citizens.
Former councillor Usha Shah, in whose ward the hospital falls, said, ``Several accidentstake place in slums and on the national highway, but in the absence of a casualty ward, patients' relatives have to admit their kin either in Cooper hospital at Andheri or Bhagwati at Borivli.'' She has written to Gokhale demanding a provision of Rs 25 lakh in the next budget to start the ward.
Shah had tabled a proposal for the ward in 1994, which was then sent to the commissioner for his remarks. But the 1995-96 budget allocated no funds for the ward. Said Dr Ram Barot, chairperson of the civic health committee, to start a casualty ward the hospital will first have to start and maintain other related departments such as a blood bank and Intensive Care Unit, which requires a large fund outlay. He assured that the BMC would expedite the matter.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
