2 deadlines missed, cost of Panipat mother-child hospital wing shoots

Tribune News Service

Mukesh Tandon

Panipat, March 22

The much-awaited project of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Wing has missed the deadline of December 2023. It was the second deadline that the construction agency has missed.

Project announced in 2018

Manohar Lal Khattar, former Chief Minister, had announced the construction of the advanced MCH wing on the premises of General Hospital in Panipat during the Budget Session in 2018.

Earlier, it missed the deadline of June 2023. As per officials, nearly 65 per cent work of the project has been completed so far. The PWD (B&R) will now again move a file for seeking permission to extend the deadline, which is likely to be December 2024.

Manohar Lal Khattar, former Chief Minister, had announced the construction of an advanced MCH wing on the premises of General Hospital in Panipat during the Budget session in 2018 during the first tenure of the BJP government.

After getting all administrative and financial approvals, the government had deposited the cost of the project to the PWD (B&R).

The department allotted the tender for the construction of the seven-storey MCH wing in June 2021 and the deadline for the completion of work had been fixed as June 2023. However, the deadline was missed as the work was not completed, said sources. Thereafter, the department got permission for the extension of the deadline to December 2023, but it has been missed again, the sources added.

An officer in the Health Department, on the condition of anonymity, said several letters had been written to the PWD to pace up the construction work of the MCH wing from the office of Principal Medical Officer and the Civil Surgeon office.

The MCH wing would have 100 beds with advanced facilities. Sources said there would be 20 delivery tables in the MCH wing, gynae OPD, child OPD, special neonatal care unit (SNCU), neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and an operation theatre would be developed in the MCH wing.

Presently, the General Hospital has 200 beds.

Dr Jayant Ahuja, Civil Surgeon, said the MCH was a big project and it would take time to complete. Letters had been sent in this regard to the concerned department, he said. The MCH would likely be completed by December, he added.

“There are several reasons behind the delay in the completion of the project. The work started with a delay of around six months as the old building was dismantled and permission from the Forest Department to cut trees got delayed,” said Praveen Chhikkara, SDO, PWD (B&R).

After that, the design of the project also saw some changes and the tender was also revised for the project. Earlier, the estimated cost of the project was Rs 21.5 crore, now the work would likely be completed at a cost of about Rs 25 crore, the SDO said.

The permission for enhancement of the timeline would be sent to the headquarters, he added.

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