Mumbai: Rs 3.23 cr cleared to kick-off Vikhroli hospital redevelopment

The BMC had shut down the 100-bed hospital in 2018 after the building was declared dilapidated. File pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The BMC has finally approved the proposal to make a payment of Rs13.23 crore to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) as land cost and other fees for obtaining a no-objection certificate to redevelop the Krantiveer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Hospital at Kannamwar Nagar in Vikhroli. The civic body will invite tenders for the construction of a 500-bed super-speciality hospital once it received the NOC.

The BMC has started the payment process to MHADA after five years. The civic body had shut down the 100-bed hospital in 2018 after the building had been declared dilapidated. The hospital was shifted to a maternity home in Tagore Nagar, but locals allege it wasn't operating at full capacity and as a result, they were forced to depend on Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar.

After a long wait, in September 2022, Kannamwwar Nagar locals held a hunger strike to protest the lack of a hospital. At the time, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ordered the BMC to settle the dispute over the land for the hospital with MHADA and start construction of the facility immediately. Initially, a 100-bed hospital was to be built at the site. But the BMC later decided to set up a 500-bed super-speciality hospital instead. mid-day, has on several occasions reported the delay in construction of the new hospital building.

Also read: Mumbai saw 26 heart attack deaths every day in 2022

Dr Vidya Thakur, chief superintendent of the BMC's peripheral hospitals, said the proposal for the payment has been passed. "Soon we will make the payment and invite tenders for the construction of the new hospital," she said.

According to an official, the new hospital will have cardiac, gastroenterology and other super-speciality departments apart from offering regular medical services. "Construction of the building will take three years," the official said. According to the data, nearly 8-9 lakh people in Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg, and Bhandup depend on the Krantiveer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Hospital.