Mumbai: In a first, BMC to rent a hospital in eastern suburbs

A graphic of the redeveloped Phule hospital at Vikhroli

In a first, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to rent a hospital building in the eastern suburbs with all its infrastructure. It has also received final permission from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) for the redevelopment of Krantiveer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Hospital at Vikhroli's Kannamwar Nagar.

EOI invited

Kannamwar Nagar residents had demanded the BMC make temporary arrangements for a hospital till the redevelopment of Phule hospital is complete. Hence the BMC has recently invited an expression of interest to rent a hospital building with infrastructure and a capacity of 100 to 150 beds. A BMC official said, "We have invited expression of interest for 3 years which can be extended to 5 years. The hospital should be located within a 5 km radius of Kannamwar Nagar with multi-speciality facilities. There should be a minimum 20 beds for the intensive care unit and minimum 10 beds for neonatal intensive care. We will appoint our staff in the hospital."

Krantiveer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Hospital at Vikhroli's Kannamwar Nagar has been closed for years. File pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

According to the official, MHADA has approved the plan of redevelopment as Kannamwar Nagar is in their layout. "This is the final permission from MHADA which we received last week. Now we can invite tenders for redevelopment. The draft tender is waiting for official approval. After getting approval from the administration, we will invite tenders. The cost of the project is around Rs 500 crore. After the appointment of the contractor for construction, the hospital will be ready in the next 3 years," the official added.

Super-speciality hospital

As per the BMC's plan, there will be two buildings, one for staff quarters and the other for the hospital. It will be a super-speciality hospital with 500 beds. The BMC has already paid Rs 13.23 crore for the use of land and other fees to MHADA.

The BMC shut the hospital six years back as the building was declared dilapidated. mid-day has raised the delay in the redevelopment of the hospital. Residents of Kannamwar Nagar had held hunger strikes for a hospital in their locality. Nearly 8-9 lakh people in Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg and Bhandup depend on the Krantiveer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Hospital.