A part of the earth at the Victoria Hospital premises caved in on Monday, apparently due to construction of the underground K.R. Market Namma Metro Station along the North-South corridor.
Doctors, other hospital staff and patients panicked on learning about the deep hole near the old OPD block. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) has cordoned off the area. BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola visited the site on Monday. “There might be a cavity in some places and the mud could have sunk because of the work underground. We will set things right,” he said.
Zahida Banu, a patient, said, “Fortunately, there was no one at the spot when the mud caved in. What if somebody had been there? Who would take responsibility if something had happened to that person?”
Minister of State for Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil said he would seek a report from the hospital authorities and pursue the matter with BMRCL.
After the former Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) director D. Raviprakash wrote to BMRCL in January about cracks in the structure, Namma Metro authorities placed supporting scaffolding inside Victoria Hospital and began monitoring the same.
In March last year, a section of the paediatric ward of the adjoining Vani Vilas Hospital was shifted after cracks appeared on the walls. The ENT block too has developed cracks over the last few months.
