Mother of blood banks stuck, may be shifted out of metro, officials fear…..Stuti Shukla
Two years after it was approved by the Centre, the proposed metro blood bank on the premises of the civic-run Lokmanya Tilak Hospital in Sion hasnt even had construction start. It has been delayed so long that it may be shifted to Hyderabad, officials fear.
The Rs-250-crore project, funded by the Centre, has received part of the money from the World Bank and was sanctioned in November 2008. The Centre had announced a scheme for technologically advanced blood bank and research centres in the four metros.
An official said NACO (National Aids Control Organisation) has informally communicated with the BMC that it is important to show the World Bank that money is being spent and work being done, otherwise the project will be shifted to Hyderabad.
At the Mumbai hospital, it is being opposed by medical and para-medical staff backed by Shiv Senas Municipal Kamgar Karmachari Union. They have opposed the demolition of about 45 quarter rooms next to the student hostel where a two-acre plot has been earmarked for the blood bank. The staff feel the BMC has enough funds and is capable of setting up a blood bank itself and does not need Central funds, said Sunil Chitnis, president of the union.
Chitnis wrote municipal commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya demanding the project be scrapped. There is no need to use the remaining FSI of the hospital for such a centre. It can be used instead for the hospitals renovation, said Chitnis.
The metro blood bank would act as a mother blood bank for smaller ones in the city, with a fully automated facility for testing and component separation. Dr. S. Kudalkar, in charge of the project for the BMC, said it would act as a regional centre for blood transfusion and research. At present we can store blood only for 30 days, but this lab will have facilities to separate various components of blood, which will make it possible to store blood for up to three years.
The project includes a molecular biology lab, genetics studies centre, immunology centre, cord banking and stem cell facilities, plasma fractionation centre, thalassemia day care centre, hemophilia day care centre and a biotechnology laboratory. The civic body plans to start at the centre a PhD programme and postgraduate courses such as MD in transfusion medicine.
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