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Gurdaspur hospital’s approach road too narrow, PHSC steps in

GURDASPUR: The Rs 20 crore 100-bed Gurdaspur Civil Hospital is the only one out of 22 such institutions in the state which does not have a road wide enough to let even two ambulances coming from opposite directions cross each other.

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Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, January 6

The Rs 20 crore 100-bed Gurdaspur Civil Hospital is the only one out of 22 such institutions in the state which does not have a road wide enough to let even two ambulances coming from opposite directions cross each other.

Much against norms, the hospital’s only approach road is barely 12 feet wide and at some places even less. The 500-meter thoroughfare, which branches off from the Gurdaspur-Batala highway, is not even a metalled one.

Ever since the hospital was shifted to Babri village, 4 km away from the city, in November, 2016, patients are unwilling to cover the long distance to get treatment. The constricted road adds to the hesitation.

Amardeep Singh Cheema, chairman of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC), says he had received innumerable complaints following which he had now decided to step in.

The hospital falls within the ambit of the PHSC.

“I recently held an inquiry and found that the road, sandwiched on both sides by chemist shops and pathological laboratories, was indeed too narrow for vehicles. I then decided to approach Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujwal, who said the administration could not construct a new road till there was a demand in writing from the hospital authorities. Since the entity falls in the jurisdiction of the PHSC, I decided to take things square on. We have now come up with a plan to build a 60-feet wide road starting from the rear of the hospital to the national highway. I wonder who gave approval to the original passage,” said Cheema.

Cheema may have stopped short of telling the truth but it is a known fact that the approval was given at the behest of former SAD MLA Gurbachan Singh Babbehali.

“It is a well-known fact Babbehali was instrumental in shifting the hospital to Babri village because it served his political interests,” alleged a former Civil Surgeon.

The new road is to be constructed on panchayat land. “The hospital has been established on 17 acres of land and not all has been fully utilised. We are planning to swap a part of the land with the panchayat. The engineering section of the PHSC is ready with the design and the final approval will be given soon. The new road will come up within two months,” said Cheema.

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