M Peerzada
Srinagar, July 16: The under-construction 120-bedded specialized orthopaedic unit building at Bone and Joints Hospital, Srinagar which was expected to be completed in June has missed this year’s deadline raising eyebrows over the pace of work.
The 120-bedded Specialized Orthopaedic Unit, an additional hospital block at the only orthopaedic tertiary hospital in valley, is being constructed by J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency, Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP) in collaboration with the World Bank.
Officials at the hospital said that the new hospital building is designed as a G+ structure, incorporating modern machinery in its construction. The construction was started way back in 2019 and it has missed multiple deadlines.
“The deadline for this year was ending June and it was scheduled to be handed over but it has missed another deadline,” the officials said.
Notably this is for the first time in North India and in Jammu and Kashmir that the new hospital building will be having a pneumatic transit system in place. “We have used fully hygienic and anti-bacterial material in the OT,” they said.
The officials said the new hospital building will also have a state-of-the-art modular operation theatre (OT) which is also coming for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Specialized Orthopaedic Unit will have a huge impact on patient care and people will get state-of-the-art facilities. Concerned officials said this is the first time that they are using Viscous Fluid Dampers in any structure.
The hospital’s design was finalized after extensive consultations with health infrastructure experts, the health department, and hospital administration, incorporating their inputs.
The facility was approved with an aim that this hospital will be at par with the norms of world-leading hospitals which are in India as well as outside the country.
Medical Superintendent Bone and Joints Hospital, Barzulla, Srinagar, Dr Shabir Siddiqui said the hospital authorities have taken the matter with concerned agency and requested them to complete the construction on time in the interest of patient care.
With the completion of the new block, the hospital will be decongested and is expected to improve trauma and orthopaedics services in the valley. The hospital gets patients from Kistiwar, Chenab Valley and Ladakh has a greater importance in healthcare in the region.
Earlier, the hospital had 200 beds however when it caught fire in March 2022, the bed strength came down to 150 and the hospital was congested.
“The building should be handed over immediately and it should be completed as soon as possible so that patients have sign of relief,” the MS said.
Officials at the hospital said that the new building will push the patient are further and benefit patients at large. Despite the delay the new deadline is now December 2024.
The existing hospital building was damaged in 2014 floods that had later prompted the construction of an additional block which was approved in 2015.
