COIMBATORE: Citing expansion plans, the management of Coimbatore District Headquarters Government Hospital in Pollachi has requested the district administration to direct Pollachi Municipality to remove an Amma Unavagam, a tax collection office, and a public toilet complex from the hospital campus. The municipality, however, claims that it owns the land and not the hospital.
The hospital has 462 beds and treats between 1,000 to 1,500 outpatients and 400 to 450 inpatients daily. It also conducts between 250 to 300 deliveries each month, with a total of at least 500 major and 1,000 minor surgeries performed. Due to space constraints, hospital staff wants to build additional buildinsg in land allegedly occupied by the Pollachi Municipality. Hospital officials submitted a petition to the district collector Kranthi Kumar Pati during his visit on October 23.
The alleged disputed land was originally government property where a municipality office and a school stood. However, when the hospital expanded, adjacent land was allocated. As the hospital did not require immediate use of the area, Amma Unavagam and the tax collection office were set up. Last year, the municipality constructed a public toilet complex for Rs 25 lakh. The municipality plans to hand it over to a contractor to generate revenue. Sources said the toilet complex was built allegedly without verifying land ownership.
An official from the health department said, “Once they hand over the toilet complex to a private player, it would be difficult for the hospital management to reclaim the land. The hospital is also likely to receive funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for constructing a building. We informed the municipality of the land ownership right when toilet construction work started, but they proceeded to build it, claiming it would serve the public need, but now intend to use it for revenue generation.”
When contacted, Pollachi municipality chairperson N Shyamala denied the allegations, stating that all establishments in question are located on municipality land. “There are no documents available to prove that the land belongs to the hospital. Therefore, we need to verify these records,” Shyamala said.