: Construction of the 700-bed Indira Gandhi Hospital in Dwarka had finally started in September last year, almost sixteen years after it was first commissioned. But soon after the AAP government was elected to power in February, the work stopped. The reason: the new government wanted to change the original design of the hospital and increase the bed strength from 700 to 1,500.
Public Works Department officials said the original plan had three air-conditioned blocks - the emergency, OPD and ward blocks, with 32 lifts.
“But the new government wants four blocks so that the number of beds can go up,” said an official. The need for new designs has stalled all work. Raw material is dumped and a partially constructed structures stands. “Work will begin as soon as the new designs are in the final stage of clearance,” said the official. As per the new designs, a medical college is also being planned and the fourth block will also come up.
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The building will be constructed on the lines of modern earthquake proof technology with a basement car parking that can accommodate 1,600 cars, besides surface parking.
Government sources added that proposals were being considered to rename the hospital after a freedom fighter.
The Rs. 566 crore-hospital is the first government hospital to come up in Dwarka and will cater to residents of west and northwest Delhi. The hospital is being constructed over 60,000 square metres.
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In 2008, former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had laid the foundation stone of the hospital, which now lies broken. Officials said that in 2005 the hospital was planned to have a capacity of 500 beds. Before the 2013 Delhi assembly elections, the Congress government hurriedly cleared the project, but tenders were cancelled due to poor response. “It was in August 2014 that the project was revived and work started,” said the official.