The double-storeyed skywalk or the walkway connecting two main buildings of the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) , a long-awaited project which has been realised with the help of Infosys Foundation, will be opened up for the public on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the walkway at a function to be held on the MCH premises on Tuesday.
Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murthy will be the chief guest on the occasion. Health Minister K. K. Shylaja, Power Minister and local MLA Kadakampally Surendran, Shashi Tharoor, MP, and Mayor V. K. Prashanth will be present on the occasion.
The skywalk, constructed at a cost of Rs. 5.2 crore by Infosys Foundation as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, has been one of the long-cherished projects at the MCH.
Attempts to connect the old main block of the MCH and the building housing the blood bank and imageology wing, situated on either side of the main arterial road leading to the MCH campus, had begun way back in 2000.
On a daily basis, visitors to the MCH as well as innumerable patients on wheelchairs or being pushed on trolleys by nurses had to cross the main road streaming with vehicles to get from the main block housing the wards and casualty wing to the other side, where the blood bank, OP block, diagnostic services and pharma shops are situated. Apart from the hazard it posed for patients, the situation used to create perpetual traffic blocks on the campus.
Though the skywalk project proposal by Infosys Foundation had been floated a couple of years ago, it had been finalised only last year.
The skywalk, extending over 100 metres and constructed using huge steel girders, connects both the first floor and second floor of the old main block and the new OP block.
A similar corridor connects the main walkway to the imageology division housing the MRI and CT scans also.
The construction was completed in about a year and despite the entire process happening at the heart of the campus, traffic restrictions had to be imposed only twice during this period. The plan was completed as per schedule.
Wherever required, piling was done and huge pillars erected to carry the steel structure.
The skywalk has been laid with anti-skid tiles and covered with laminated glass and louvres for air circulation n the sides, with side grab bars. It is also lit up with LED lights at night and is a sight to behold.
