Lack of parking in Gandhi Nagar hospital irks nearby residents

Tribune News Service

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Jammu, December 8

The lack of parking space in Government Hospital, Gandhi Nagar, is not only creating chaos on the premises, but also on the road outside, which creates massive traffic jam on the both sides of the hospital.

The hospital located in the most posh locality of the city and catering to hundreds of patients on the daily basis lacks parking space on the premises. The situation becomes worst when people park their vehicle near the main gate and the entrance to the emergency.

“The parking at the hospital always remains full and we are being forced to park our vehicles outside the premises. They don’t even have proper parking for their staff, where will the patients park their vehicles?” asked Sunil Sharma, an attendant of a patient.

“People are parking their vehicles outside the hospital at their own risk and sometime have to pay a fine levied by the traffic police,” he added.

The hospital has the capacity of parking about 100 vehicles on the premises, which is insufficient for the hospital. Sometime the doctors also do not get space to park their cars on the premises and they park their vehicle outside the hospital.

The people residing near the hospital face a lot of hardship due to the chaos during OPD hours, as people visiting the hospital park their vehicles near the gates of the residents.

“The hospital is creating nuisance in the locality. We can’t even move out during OPD hours. People park their vehicles on the roadside and sometime in front of our gates. The government should have provided sufficient space for parking at the time of constructing the new building,” said a local residing near the hospital.

The hospital is being expanded in three phases, in which one OPD building has been completed and operational. Another building is under construction and the older one will be upgraded later. The administration claims that after the completion of the second building the parking problem will be solved to some extent.

Accepting the problem, Dr Mohammad Younis, Medical Superintendent, said, “We are very much concerned about this problem. Taking an immediate step we will depute a security guard on the emergency gate to clear the vehicles from the gate. We are also planning to stop the auction of the parking space from the emergency side for smooth flow of traffic for emergency cases.”

“Parking space is a major concern in the hospital. I think the problem will be solved to some extent after the completion of the second building and later we will also create some more parking space at the time of upgrading the old building of the hospital,” he added.