Mumbai: Health care centre that could have treated locals, shut six months back

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporationrsquos BMC Urban Health Centre at Baiganwadi in Govandi which could have played a major role in treating a number of people affected by the smoke from the fire at the Deonar dumping ground has been shut since six months The centre was run by resident doctors and trainees of the BYL Nair Hospital and Medical College and provided specialised medical care to local residentsResidents said that had the centre been operational it could have played a major role in resolving their respiratory complaints PicSameer MarkandeSources said it was one of the largest primary care facilities in the city run by specialist doctors who managed the OPD However as the structure was dilapidated and would leak during the monsoon the civic body stopped the medical services ldquoThey had plans of shifting the centre elsewhere There is another post at Kamlaram Nagar but they donrsquot have a specialised doctor at the OPD as we didrdquo said a clerical employee thereWhile the centre is to be demolished soon and rebuilt as a fullfledged hospital at the nearby Shivaji Nagar Compound residents said that had it been operational it could have played a major role in resolving their issues The closure of the centre put more pressure on three newly opened medical posts inMEast Ward However one of them the Kamlaram Nagar post was located too close to the fire mdash 100 feet from the dumping ground So the residents were forced to travel to the two other posts one near RBK School on MankhurdChembur Link Road another at Lallubhai Compound near Mankhurd or go all the way to Shatabdi HospitalldquoResidents cant afford private doctors or to go all the way to Shatabdi Hospital every time there is a fire and there are smoke issuesrdquo said Samira Ansari a resident of Baiganwadi undergoing treatment at Shatabdi for a respiratory tract infection after the fireTemporary centre still awaitedOn November 23 last year post a meeting with local corporator Rais Shaikh Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta had issued a letter copy is with midday directing the assistant commissioner of MEast Ward to expedite the tender for civil repair works at Natwar Compound for the establishment of a temporary centre by December 12 2015The chief accountant finance was asked to allocate funds to the assistant commissioner and at the same time the dean of Nair Hospital was given a deadline of January 1 to arrange adequate equipment and furniture for the temporary centre and make it operationalHowever the centre remains under construction even as the residents of the area were left gasping for breath during the Deonar fire incident which went on for five daysCorporator Shaikh said it is the complete disinterest of the engineers towards public health initiatives that have crippled the project and kept residents from receiving medical care during an emergency which was even highlighted by the chief minister ldquoThere is complete disregard for the project even though there are strict instructions of the MC The reason is complete neglect by the engineers towards the priority of the work and deadlinerdquo said ShaikhHospital waits tooDr Ramesh Bharmal dean of BYL Nair Hospital said he is waiting for the BMC officials to complete the work ldquoI wonrsquot take more than two days to start the centre We are waiting for the concerned department to complete the worksrdquo said BharmalDr S R Suryavanshi HOD of the Preventive and Social Medicine PSM department of BYL Nair Hospital said ldquoWe couldnrsquot start the OPD because it is still under construction Also we havenrsquot been allotted the entire building but 1012 rooms on the first floor of the building As soon as the ward officials complete the work we will start functioningrdquoHe also admitted that the presence of doctors at the post could have helped patients suffering from respiratory issues