The five-storied Lady Goschen Hospital in the heart of the city will soon boost of roof top solar panels that will power some of the specialised units coming up under in the new building under construction.
At a meeting held to review progress of construction, Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim said the top floor of the new building can covered by solar panels which can help hospital generate about 150 kv of power. Mr. Ibrahim asked Dakshina Kannada Nirmiti Kendra, the project coordinator, to consult expert firms about way in which solar power can be tapped.
K.K. Upadhya, the Managing Director of Mangalore Refinary and Petrochemicals Limited, which was providing Rs. 21 crore for construction, said the new building should have provision for natural lighting. These should be use of electrical appliances that consume less power. “This should be close to being called a green building,” he said.
Mr. Ibrahim and Mr. Upadhya went around the new building along with Lady Goshchen Hospital Superintendent M.M. Shakuntala, Nirmithi Kendra Project Director Rajendra Kalbhavi and the representatives of building contractors. Superintending Engineer of Public Works Department S.Satyananda was also present.
Mr. Ibrahim told reporters that so far 71 per cent of the construction work had been completed. “We are two months behind the schedule,” Mr. Ibrahim said and added that the building would be completed by December. “We hope to make the hospital function in the new building from January,” he said.
Later in a meeting held at the Government Wenlock Hospital, Mr. Ibrahim expressed his unhappiness over the time taken by District Surgeon Rajeshwari Devi and other administrative staff in attending to pressing problems of the hospital. Mr. Ibrahim was unhappy over the delay of one month in putting forward the file seeking approval for the use of alternate transformer as against the one that was damaged. He expressed his displeasure over the delay of six months in seeking approval for procurement of medicines.
