MAMC, LNJP hospitals in shambles, unsafe, LG finds in meeting, orders authorities to clean up

New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI) Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena on Thursday directed the PWD, MCD, and the Delhi Police to build accommodation, remove unauthorised structures, and ensure safety of doctors in Maulana Azad Medical College and LNJP Hospital, Raj Niwas officials said.

Saxena, along with Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Health Minister Dr Pankaj Singh, chaired a meeting to review the security and other infrastructure in the Maulana Azad Medical College, Lok Nayak Hospital, GB Pant Hospital, and the Guru Nanak Eye Centre Complex situated in the heart of the national capital.

It emerged during the meeting that there were lapses in the security of the students and doctors and an acute shortage of accommodation.

In these hospitals, civil infrastructure is in shambles and there is a severe lack of space due to encroachments, officials said.

According to the MAMC dean, the medical complex of the hospital, established in 1958, could accommodate only 200 students, while the current strength was more than 3,200.

The crunch has led to six to seven people boarding in a room meant for only two, with hardly any space left for even a study table. Resident doctors are being forced to sleep and rest in corridors and outside nursing stations.

It was pointed out that the Public Works Department failed in creating space for the increased strength, because, it was alleged, the land meant for expansion had been captured by encroachers.

The presence of monuments protected under the Archaeological Survey of India near the hospital has also led to a space crunch since these structures cannot be altered without permission, officials said.

The MAMC dean pointed out that in the financial year 2023-24, the ASI was given a three-month window for carrying out necessary repair and maintenance work in these structures, but it could not be done for the then government did not sanction the funds.

As a result, the MAMC was forced to carry out minor repairs with money raised through crowd funding, the official alleged.

The buildings are in extremely dilapidated condition, with chunks of plaster and concrete often falling and threatening the safety and life of students and doctors, the official said.

The dean pointed out that toilets were extremely unhygienic and unusable, and encroachers' burdening the sewer lines was not helping the matter.

A presentation revealed that illegal flats, temples, mosques, shops, path labs, akharas, ashrams and even schools had come up on the land allotted to these institutions by the Land and Development Office.

The complex had four illegal jhuggi clusters in it, encroaching over 25 acres of land, and many government accommodations were being illegally occupied by long-retired employees, the official said.

The existence of these structures had led to a surge in criminal activities, he said.

Police pointed out that illegal liquor sales and drug cartels were also operating out of these encroached areas.

Authorities of all three hospitals also brought to the fore that encroachment and illegal parking had made the approach road to the hospitals clogged, making even the entry of ambulances difficult.

Saxena expressed shock at the state of affairs in the biggest medical complex of the city.

Gupta pointed towards an obvious political patronage by the AAP dispensation, which governed the city earlier, for the current state of affairs.

In a slew of measures, Saxena asked the PWD to immediately prepare a plan and estimates for creating accommodation and associated infrastructure for at least 4,000 students and doctors, the Raj Niwas official said.

The Delhi Police was directed to deploy a force on the campus and crack down on the criminal elements.

All land-owning agencies, along with the hospital authorities, were directed to carry out a land survey and identify encroachment.

He referred the matter of encroachment by temples and other such structures to a 'Religious Committee'.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the education department were directed to issue notices to the schools illegally operating out of the complex.

The ASI was asked to act against encroachers on monuments protected by it.

The LG asked for Action Taken Reports, along with pictures, to be submitted to the LG Secretariat, CMO, and Office of the Health Minister, periodically. PTI SLB VN VN