New hospital coming up at cost of Rs 6 cr
Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Oct 28: Patients in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district are miffed over the Tuberculosis Hospital’s relocation from the main town to the district’s periphery, while the administration describes it as a temporary arrangement, noting that the Government has approved a new building for the facility for which land has been identified.
The patients told the Excelsior that the hospital’s current location is difficult to get to and that they are even having trouble in finding the facility, prompting them to seek care in neighbouring areas.
Patients said that the hospital is located near Mattan, about 8 kilometres from the main town of Anantnag, it is difficult for patients to locate the Primary Health Centre (PHC), where the hospital currently operates.
“Such a facility should be easily accessible to patients, but the fact that is it was moved from an easily accessible location to a challenging,” a local said.
The facility known as the District Tuberculosis Centre (DTC) was operating out of a building outside the Government Medical College (GMC) in the Jangalt Mandi neighbourhood of Anantnag town before it was demolished to make way for multi-level car parking. “Ironically, the hospital was demolished to make room for a multi-level parking structure. Even if parking was need of the hour, the hospital should have been relocated to a suitable place,” a doctor said.
He added that the hospital was initially at a distance of around 3 kilometres from the town, which was tolerable. “It was moved to Brakpora, which is a reasonable three kilometres from the town. But for unclear reasons, they have now moved it around 8 kilometres away,” he added.
The TB patients who had been coming to the facility for years had to travel to other facilities for treatment, and some had to temporarily stop their medication. “When I arrived in Brakpora, I was informed that the facility had been moved to Mattan. After trying to find the hospital for a few days, I gave up,” a lady patient from Bijbihara said.
Dr M. Y. Zagoo, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Anantnag, however, said that the hospital had only been temporarily moved and that the Government had found land in the town to build a new hospital.
“Government has approved the project with an estimated cost of over Rs 6 crores. The land has also been identified and tenders will be floated soon. A nearby stream and the pristine environment make the land ideal for a hospital,” he said.
He added that until the facility is finished, they anticipate moving the hospital to a nearby building that will probably be vacated soon. “We were forced to relocate it to the Mattan area because there was no Government building in the town. We expect that a building will become available in the town so that it can be moved back there,” he said.
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