Decks cleared, blood bank scheme to take off soon….Stuti Shukla
Drop by Drop – The project funded by union government has been delayed for three years due to opposition from doctors
Drop by Drop – The project funded by union government has been delayed for three years due to opposition from doctors
The much-awaited Metropolitan Blood Bank project at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion, will take off soon. The project funded by the central government has been delayed for over three years owing to opposition from doctors who fear that the project would eat into the FSI meant for hospital redevelopment.
However, Municipal Commissioner Subodh Kumar has assured doctors that the hospital redevlopment will not be affected by the blood bank project. The super-specialty and technologically advanced blood bank will be built by the National Aids Control Organization (NACO) in four metros.
In a meeting between the NACO, protesting doctors and other hospital staff last week, Kumar said while the need for such a blood bank is absolute, it can be built without disturbing hospital redevelopment. Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar said while 2.64 lakh units of blood is collected and stored annually in various blood banks in the city, the current shortfall is around 85, 000 units. Moreover, 75 per cent of the blood is broken down into components, which increases its shelf life. This blood bank will increase the storage capacity and thus enable us to break down 100 per cent of the blood collected, said Mhaiskar.
The BMC will now request the state government to increase the FSI of the hospital and the centre at Dharavi from 2.6 to 4 and of the nearby staff quarters from 1.33 to 4. The blood bank can come up on not more than 9,000 sq metres of built-up area. Also, more than 85, 000 sq metres of built-up area will be available for redevelopment, said Mhaiskar. The BMC will write to NACO assuring it that work will be started soon and it need not shift the project out of the city.
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/decks-cleared-blood-bank-scheme-to-take-off-soon/763434/