Work on new building of Ambala Cantt Civil Hospital in limbo

Five years after the work on the extension building of the Civil Hospital in Ambala Cantonment started, the work is still incomplete.

The project was started in August 2019 and was to be completed in two years but even after three years of missing its deadline, only about 20 per cent of the work has been completed. Incomplete structures can be seen on the premises of the Civil Hospital.

The building is to come up at a cost of Rs 77.44 crore.

The hospital was upgraded to a 200-bedded hospital, which resulted in a heavy flow of patients. To tackle the rush and space crunch at the existing hospital, an additional building was sanctioned. The Health Department had planned to shift at least 100 beds, a couple of OPDs, besides offices in the extension building due to space crunch at the Civil Hospital.

An official at the Civil Hospital said, “Due to space-related issues in the existing buildings, an extension building was sanctioned but the project is lying incomplete and the construction work has come to a halt. After the construction of a cancer centre, the workload of the hospital has further increased. The building material is lying on the site but there is no construction activity.”

“During the rains, the under-construction building was waterlogged. The PWD had to get the water pumped out. With the construction of the additional building, we will be able to decongest the hospital. It will be beneficial for the staff and the patients if the additional building is ready soon,” he said.

Due to the inordinate delay in the completion of the project, a penalty was imposed by the Public Works Department (Buildings and Roads) on the agency concerned, following which the agency went for arbitration to challenge the penalty, and the project came to a standstill.

Deputy Medical Superintendent-cum-Nodal Officer for construction Vinay Goel said, “The extension building of the Civil Hospital is an important project for the decongestion of the existing hospital. A new critical care block is also to be constructed in the new building, for patients suffering from life-threatening or infectious diseases. The project is with the PWD (B&R), but the work came to a halt due to some issues between the department and the agency. We have been writing to the department regularly to get the project completed at the earliest.”

Executive Engineer, PWD (B&R), Ritesh Aggarwal, said, “The agency was repeatedly asked to expedite the work and a penalty was also imposed. The agency challenged the penalty and went for arbitration. However, the arbitrator upheld the penalty and the matter was decided in the favour of the department. A report with final measurement of the work done has been sent to the higher authorities for further action and closure of the agreement. After the final decision, the process of re-tendering will be initiated.”