BERHAMPUR:THE old indoor building of State Government-run MKCG Medical College and Hospital continues to be used despite being declared unsafe by the Ganjam unit of Roads and Buildings (R&B) division five years back.Set up in 1962, the 1,081- bed MKCG MCH is the referral hospital for 10 Southern Odisha districts and caters to patients from Andhra Pradesh as well.
Walls in various departments of the 55-year-old structure have developed deep cracks sans maintenance, portions of the roof chip off every month and need to be repaired. At any given point of time, around 800 patients and 4,000 people, including patients’ attendants and hospital staff, can be found in the wards.
Sources said cement chips from the roof had started falling in 2011 and hospital authorities apprised the Director of Medical Education and Training besides the Health and Family Welfare Directorate about it in 2012. The Director suggested inspection of the building by the R&B officials and submit report. The R&B officials declared the heavily dilapidated structure unsafe and suggested infrastructure development. Except for some patch works then, no concrete repair was undertaken. Subsequently, the building was again damaged in Hud Hud and Phailin cyclones. Last year, the local R&B officials inspected the structure again and stated that the building was no longer safe for use as its several parts had become weak due to lack of repair.
On July 15 this year, MKCG Superintendent K Subudhi wrote to the Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department for sanction of funds required for construction of a new indoor building. He wrote that the building lies in a severely dilapidated condition with water leaking from roof every time it rains.
The MKCG MCH has 24 departments and during the golden jubilee celebrations of the MCH in 2012,the Chief Minister had announced construction of 12 new multi-storied buildings on 150-acre campus to house different departments. Currently, construction of almost all the building has been completed and departments such as Casualty, Medicine and Library have been shifted to new building. However, the 20-bed ICU and Gynaecology Department continue to function form the old buildings as infrastructure works in their new buildings are not yet over.