THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From this Tuesday onwards, patients and bystanders at the Medical College Hospital will heave a sigh of relief. They will no longer have to negotiate huge crowds, siren-blazing ambulances and scores of other vehicles plying on the busy stretch near the casualty wing while crossing over to other blocks of the hospital.
A double-storied sky walk that connects two blocks of the hospital at two levels will be thrown open to the public by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at 5 pm on Tuesday. The sky-walk has been built by the Infosys Foundation at a cost of Rs 5.2 crore.
Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murthy will be the chief guest of the occasion. Power and Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran will preside over the function and Health Minsiter K K Shailaja will deliver the keynote address.
The skywalk connects the casualty wing with the out-patient block, blood bank and labs. With the facility becoming operational, patients will not have to cross the busy road to reach other blocks of the hosptial.
The demand for setting up a sky-walk was a long pending one as the road near the casualty wing witnesses heavy traffic at all times. Hundreds of vehicles to the Medical College Nursing College, Pharmacy College, Paramedical Institute, SAT Hospital, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology and the Regional Cancer Centre use this road, causing inconvenience to patients and bystanders.
The skywalk, which is over 100 metres long connects two blocks of the Medical College Hosptial both at the first and second floors. While the main corridor links the new OP block and the old hospital block, the second one links the CT scan and MRI scan centres.
It was the hard labour of over 50 workers over the last one year that made the skywalk a reality. In order to ensure stability, the skywalk has been set up on strong pillars that have been erected after proper piling. The steel structure and the floor sheet is corrosion resistant. While tiles have been laid on the floors, the walls have been adorned with granite.
The lower portion on either side of the skywalk is covered with 11 mm laminated glass and fitted with louvers to ensure proper air circulation. Stainless steel railings have also been provided. The skywalk is fitted with 80 LED lights of 40 Watts each which ensure day-light like lighting at night.