SURAJ NANDREKAR
suraj@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: In a major development, the government’s plans for a super-specialty block at Goa Medical College has hit a roadblock with the court granting ex-parte stay on the project.
According to details available with Herald, after the Agarwal report on water shortage which spoke of illegal hutments in the GMC campus, the government initiated action to remove 13 illegal shanties in the area.
“The government was successful in removing 11 shanties. However, one of the remaining illegal occupants moved the North District Court and got an ex-parte stay,” a GMC source said.
When contacted for further details, Anthony D’Souza, Joint Secretary to Dy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza, said the government had acquired land for super-specialty Block adjacent to the present campus and confirmed that the District Court had passed an ex-parte injunction.
According to D’Souza, the problem occurred as GMC had not maintained the acquisition and title papers properly. “Now they have managed to trace the title papers, which will be produced in court to prove that it is acquired land and vacate the injunction,” he said.
D’Souza further said that there is no question of stay as it is a land acquired by the government. “At the most the government may have to pay some compensation,” he said.
The super-specialty block at GMC, Bambolim is planned at a cost of Rs 400 cr. The Centre has sanctioned the project for Goa where it will meet 75 percent of the cost, while Goa’s contribution will be 25 percent.
At the same place there is another proposal to set up a tertiary cancer care center in GMC, which has also been sanctioned by the Centre. This project will cost Rs 45 crore and 25 percent of the cost will be borne by the State government.
According to sources, on an average 1000 cancer patients are added to the list every year and highest number of cases are of breast cancer.
Sources said that all existing super-specialties in GMC such as neurosurgery, neurology, pediatrics, nephrology, urology, plastic surgery, including the cardiac and cardio thoracic unit, were to be shifted to the new block. It will be a 300-bed block once it is ready.
Officials said that at any given time GMC has 400 to 500 patients requiring super-specialty treatment.
