Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Aug 19: The new 50-bed building block of Bijbehara Sub-District Hospital (SDH) in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district is nowhere near completion, despite the fact that the Roads and Buildings Department declared the structure unsafe almost seven years ago.
The structure was damaged during the severe floods of 2014. Soon after, a safety audit determined that the building was hazardous, and the plan for a replacement structure was approved. “The inner walls of some blocks on the ground floor had cracks in the superstructure. The flooring has also sunken, and one storey building with GGI sheet roofing, within the premises of the main old building, has deviated around 6-7 inches from ground to the first floor,” according to the audit report.
Abdul Rehman Veeri, the then-Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, laid the foundation stone for SDH Bijbehara in 2018, at a cost of Rs 14.47 crore. The Jammu and Kashmir Police Housing Corporation is constructing the hospital and they say repeated disruptions in the project have delayed its completion.
Doctors at the hospital said that the Government has failed to fix the building despite a negative report. “Cracks have emerged on the walls of some blocks on the ground floor. Ward flooring has sunk at the inpatient facility. Both patients and workers are at risk because of the damaged building,” a doctor said, adding that they fear for their lives as the cracks in walls and ceiling are widening with each passing day.
While the residents criticize the Government for the slow pace of work, the authorities attribute the delays to utility shifts. “It took us a long time to realign an electric line. We halted the construction twice because of the relocation of other utilities,” an official said, adding that the work on the project was suspended for at least two months because of COVID-19.
The locals asked the Health Department and the Jammu and Kashmir Police Housing Corporation to expedite the work, but their repeated requests were ignored. “We have been repeatedly asking them to speed up the work on this important healthcare centre, but nothing has been done so far,” Nissar Ahmad, a local said, adding that they request the Government to direct the appropriate authorities to finish the structure as soon as possible
Chief Medical Officer Anantnag, Mukhtar Ahmad, told Excelsior that there will be no more delays in the work because funds are available. “Construction work is in full swing. We have given the Corporation instructions to finish the structures as fast as possible, and there is no shortage of funds,” he said.
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