Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, May 17 (KNO): The Health and Medical Education department has accorded the sanction to the administrative approval for the project "Strengthening by way of Shear Walls/Jackatting/VFD's for construction of incomplete building and pending work of Rehmat-e-Alam hospital in Anantnag.
As per two seperate orders issued by Secretary Health and Medical Education available with news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the pending works of all floors of main blocks of Rehmat-e-Alam hospital is to be done at an estimated cost of 1857.66 lakhs while shear walls/ Jackatting/VFD's is to be done at an estimated cost of 651.88 lakhs.
The administrative approval, as per the order, is subject to several conditions including works are executed strictly as per the DPR duly vetted by Development Commissioner Works, drawings are vetted by competent authority, e-tendering mode is followed, unexecuted part of the work to be executed as per the approved design and NOC is sought from all regulatory authorities etc.
In February 2017, the government accorded sanction to taking over the building by the Health and Medical Education Department with all its assets and liabilities while the process was started in 2015.
Though two storeys of the hospitals had already been constructed by the trust, the government later allotted the contract for completion of the building including construction of two more storeys to JKPCC without going for any safety audit of the already constructed ground and first floors.
Later, when JKPCC completed the major part of the construction and spent crores on it, the government tasked IIT Jammu to conduct a safety audit of the building. It took the audit agency more than a year to come up with the report in which it suggested jacketing of beams and pillars of the first two storeys.
In their safety audit report, the Indian Institute of Technology had recommended retrofitting and jacketing of columns and vital beams in the ground floor and first floor of the building to strengthen it further and reduce the vulnerability.
The government had earlier decided that Maternity and Child Care hospital will function from Rehmat-e-Alam hospital as the MCCH Anantnag is currently functioning in an unsafe building which lacks space at the main town of Anantnag.
However, as per officials, the IIT has suggested that the Rehmat-e-Alam building is not safe for neonatal and pediatric ICUs and recommended that the same should not be used for hospital purpose following to authorities decided to shift MCCH the main campus of the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital.
But since then, years have passed but MCCH hasn't been shifted to Rehmat-e-Alam hospital nor to the main campus and thousands of patients continue to suffer due to space crunch and other issues at existing places of MCCH—(KNO)
