Rules for clinics in housing societies relaxed ………Ravikiran.Deshmukh
Established clinics in residential buildings will not need to have separate entrances
Established clinics in residential buildings will not need to have separate entrances
Operators of over 1,300 nursing homes functioning in residential buildings can heave a sigh of relief as the state government has sanctioned the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) request for modifications in the Development Control Rules. The DC regulations stipulated that all polyclinics, nursing homes and maternity homes operating out of residential buildings would need to have separate access. This was due to complaints made by housing societies about common entrances inconveniencing residents.
Following a Supreme Court judgment, all nursing homes, maternity homes and clinics in the city would be declared illegal if they did not have mandatory independent access. The SC had even set a deadline of March 31 for complying with the provisions.
With the modification, the BMC commissioner has now been empowered to relax the condition of separate means of access or staircase to the nursing homes, but only after consulting the Executive Health Officer. According to the DC Regulation 51 (iii), Nursing Homes, Maternity Home etc are permissible in independent buildings on ground floor, first floor and second floor with separate means of access or staircase, if it is within the building.
The BMCs contention for amending the rule was that in most cases, it may be difficult to comply with the condition of providing a separate means of access or staircase in existing residential buildings. The proposed clinics will be crucial given the citys increase in population.
* BMCs contention was it will be tough to provide separate access to clinics in existing buildings