It was supposed to be an earthquake-resistant building – a 130-bed maternity hospital that would cater to the maddening pressure at the current sole maternity hospital in the city’s center. Pertinently, the foundation stone of this additional block was laid by then-Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in 2016. It is amazing to note that the construction of this hospital took so long. The year 2024 is about to end and we are at the cusp of entering 2025 but the construction is still going. This should have been the topmost priority all along these years irrespective of how badly the socio-political atmosphere played out in these years. All things could wait but not the much-needed construction of a full-fledged upscale maternity hospital that can cater to the current old building at the centre of the city.
According to officials, the plinth of the block was laid soon after the foundation stone was laid out but the project faced repeated delays and no work was done after that. After the merger of the former Project Implementation agency now the Roads & Buildings department is the sole project implementation agency in this case. The official work bottlenecks got the project delayed by about eight years, this is maddening to say the least. How could the merger of one agency into another affect the progress of such a vital health project that is directly affecting the lives of thousands of expecting mothers every month?
The fact of the matter is that the infrastructure of the district hospitals has to be improved or two equivalents of LD hospital built in north and south Kashmir so that the pressure lessens on the sole maternity hospital in Srinagar. The percentage of referrals from the district hospitals suggests that the infrastructure is inadequate at the district hospital level or there is a dire shortage of manpower. The need of the hour is to create additional 50 to 60-bed maternity hospitals in Baramulla and Anantnag so that the frequency of referrals from the frontier districts lessens.
Since the UT administration has restarted working on the project we can expect the hospital to be complete in another one or two years. The administration has to ensure that there are no further delays to this end.
