Cuttack: Several wards at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Postgraduate Institute of Paediatrics aka Sishu Bhawan here still function from British-era buildings.
A few of them at the casualty ward, old surgical ward and the administrative block of the premier childcare hospital were constructed in early 1900s. The old buildings at the childcare facility were part of British Governor’s residential office in the Silver City.
The district administration had conducted surveys to ascertain the number of old and dilapidated buildings in the city following a mild earthquake in 2015. In two successive surveys in 2015 and 2016, the district administration had billed several buildings at childcare hospital as old structures.
Officials from the Cuttack Development Authority (CDA), Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and Public Works Department (PWD) had participated in the surveys, sources added. A couple of years ago, the health department had initiated steps to construct a multi-storey building at Sishu Bhawan to house all wards. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone of a seven-storey building at the childcare institute last year.
The Health department had planned to spend at least Rs 100 crore on the project which is yet to be implemented. According to sources, the state cabinet has not approved the multi-storey building at Sishu Bhawan. Health minister Pratap Jena had convened a high-level meeting in August this year to deliberate on old buildings at the hospital.
“Some buildings at Sishu Bhawan are old but we cannot term them as dilapidated structures. The department is taking steps for the construction of a seven-storey building at the childcare hospital,” said Sishu Bhawan administrative officer Lingaraj Behera.
Hospital superintendent Saroj Satpathy said they had undertaken repair work at the old structures to strengthen their longevity. “The state government has planned to provide all healthcare facilities under one roof at Sishu Bhawan,” he added.
PWD executive engineer MR Khan said no building at Sishu Bhawan has been declared unsafe.
Notably, a few British-era structures in Chandini Chowk area of the city were used as a centre to provide care to infants and lactating mothers soon after Independence. These structures were brought under Sishu Bhawan from its inauguration April 1, 1966.
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