By: Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Srinagar: The Chief Engineer Roads and Buildings department Kashmir informed that work on a 500-bedded Pediatric hospital in Srinagar’s Bemina will be completed in four months.
The under-construction hospital will be a big relief for the patients of the valley.
The work on the hospital which was proposed to be a 200-bedded maternity care facility initially was started in 2013 during the National Conference (NC) regime. However, former Chief Minister, Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on October 17, 2015, gave it an extension and laid the foundation stone for 500-bedded Mother-Child Hospital.
In 2019, the government accorded sanction to conversion of the 200-bedded Maternity Hospital and the 300 bedded Pediatric Hospital at Bemina, Srinagar into a full-fledged 500-bedded Children’s Hospital.
The Chief Engineer, Er. Showkat Jeelani said: “We have received State Administrative Council (SAC) approval to the construction of a 500-bedded pediatric hospital at Bemina, Srinagar and now the work will start”.
He said that in the next three to four months they will complete the work.
Officials said that once complete, the hospital would be under the management control of the Government Medical College, Srinagar. “The hospital will strengthen the pediatric care facilities in Kashmir division, ease the burden of patient load on the existing tertiary level hospital, and ensure quality maternity, neonatal and pediatric care to the patients” they said.
Sources said that as per the previous plan, the GB Pant Hospital, valley’s lone children’s hospital located in the Sonawar area, will be converted into a general hospital as the staff and paediatric facilities from there would be shifted to the new premises.
It is to mention here that The Administrative Council (AC) headed by Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, recently gave fresh administrative approval to the construction of a 500-bedded pediatric hospital at Bemina, Srinagar.
“The project will be upgrading vital pediatric facilities on modern grounds and will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs. 114.81 crore. The new hospital will be equipped with all modern equipment for managing the high risk pediatric cases to further reduce the infant mortality rate,” the government has said.
It will also serve as the Centre of Excellence in Pediatrics in Kashmir Division and will assist the Union territory in mitigating a possible third wave of COVID-19 pandemic. (KINS)
