The Times of India           24.12.2013

New civic hospitals by February: Mayor

VASHI: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation is facing flak from corporators and citizens for delay in the construction of the three 100-bed civic hospitals at Nerul, Belapur and Airoli. The civic body had announced in 2010 that it would be setting up three hospitals in the satellite city and complete the work within 24 months. But despite being delayed by a year, the work on these buildings is still not complete.

When asked about the delay, mayor Sagar Naik said, "All the three hospitals will be operational by February. The medical equipment has to be installed and we have to recruit the medical staff, both of which will be done soon."

But corporators are still not convinced. Vaibhav Gaikwad, NCP corporator from Vashi, added, "Civic body should make efforts to expedite the pending work and start these hospitals at earliest possible." Another corporator said that when it comes to issues related to citizens' health, the civic body should adhere to the timeframe it had allotted for completing the work. "The hospitals were supposed to be operational by early 2013 but the civic body still cannot tell us the date by which these hospitals would be operational," added the corporator.

The blame game is on — the public health engineering department said that the health department would know the exact time the hospitals would take to be operational. Surendra Patil, additional city engineer said, "The buildings are in final stage of completion. The medical equipment is still being installed. You should ask health department about this. Our role is limited to construction."

But the health department blamed the engineering department for the delay in handing over the building. Ramesh Nikam, chief health officer, NMMC, said, "The building was to be handed over to us in December. But we still haven't got possession. After getting possession, we will need at least three months for completing internal fittings and installing medical equipment. Therefore, it is difficult to tell the exact time required."

The passing the buck of the civic officials has not gone well with the local citizens. "The delay shows how important citizens are for the civic body," said Gopal Sharma, a Navi Mumbai resident.