MARGAO: With all focus once again on Hospicio following the collapse of a fan on a child causing injuries, the question uppermost in minds of all is when the new South Goa District Hospital that is under construction for so long will finally be commissioned.
The foundation stone for the new district hospital was laid in December 2008 when the Margao MLA Digambar Kamat was the chief minister. The actual construction began only in December 2015 and the building is still awaiting completion even though four long years have passed. Incidentally even now no one can categorically state that it will be commissioned by which date.
Last year it was expected that the premises would be handed over to the Directorate of Health Services in July 2019. However, by the time it was July, Goa State Infrastructure Development Council (GSIDC) said they would hand over the new hospital in September.
At that time they claimed that three works were delaying the handing over of the premises and these works were laying the gas pipeline, the sewerage treatment plant and the equipment, especially that of the operation theatres, that were ordered from USA and had not arrived.
The existing district hospital (Hospicio) in the town has only 250 beds, while the new one coming up at Fatorda is planned to be a 500-bedded hospital. Because of this additional equipment and expansion extra staff will be required. The new district hospital would reportedly require additional 77 multi-task workers and additional 127 nurses.
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat after becoming chairman of the Public Undertaking Committee took up this matter seriously and held constant inspections following which work can be seen undertaken regularly at the site, said sources.
GSIDC is now gearing up to hand over the premises to Health Services by January 31, 2020 following which Health Services asked for one month to prepare the hospital for occupancy. “We will give Health Services two months; hence by April or May 2020 we can expect the new district hospital to be commissioned,” Kamat said.
There are a lot of minor matters that are hampering the work. For example the air conditioning ducts are yet to be connected and unless that is done the false ceiling cannot be laid. Besides the Operation Theatre (OT) material is yet to arrive.
So South Goa will have to bear with the Hospicio mess for at least the first quarter of the New Year.
