The construction work of the ‘Independent Hospital’ building in Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH) is going too slow as only two storeys of this 11-floor building are ready at this juncture. Going with this speed, it may take 6-7 years to complete the building. The project already got delayed by 5 years as it was to be started in 2019 but work began in 2024.

 

The project is the brainchild of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who had initiated the integrated plan of IGGMCH. Primarily, the project was of 7 floors with Rs 119 crore estimated cost. The departments in the building planned were Psychiatry, Gynaecology, Paedatric, TB and Medicine including casualty. The project was of 500 beds. Later on, four floors were added and cost chalked out was Rs 132 crore. With the addition of four floors, the IGGMCH made a proposal of 250-300 more beds and starting departments of Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery, Neurosurgery and Neurology. IGGMCH had prepared first proposal in 2019 during the then Fadnavis-led Government’s tenure but it had some deficiencies which were removed later.

 

When Mahavikas Aaghadi took charge in Maharashtra, the issue remained pending. But in 2022 when Shinde-Fadnavis came to the power, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis pushed the proposal and IGGMCH administration sent the same in September 2022. It finally got approval and the bhoomipujan was performed in presence of the then Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and others in February, 2024. The building is coming up in place of previous paying wards which are being demolished. It will have minor Operation Theatre, emergency OT, blood bank, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), dialysis unit. With an addition of Cardiology and Cardiac departments, the Cathlab too has to be installed.

 

PWD is executing the construction work. When ‘The Hitavada’ called Varsha Ghuse, the project in-charge from Public Works Department, she did not pick up the call. No talk of cost other than construction Nobody is talking of the cost of the project other than the construction work. From the funds approved, only building can be constructed. But nobody thought about the cost of beds, CT, MRI, Cathlab etc. One bed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) costs around Rs 20 lakh. The building will have 130-bedded ICU which means it will cost over Rs 4 crore. No provision of these added costs has been made thus far.