KEM hospital starts shifting students from 96-year-old dilapidated building

Nurses said they had written seven to eight letters to the administration last year regarding the worn-out conditions of the building.

Mumbai: The KEM hospital administration started to shift around 300 students from the 96-year-old quarters and school of the nursing building. On Monday, they transferred 30 students to an in-campus hostel. The administration is looking to shift the rest in a week.

The building has 211 rooms and five classrooms. Of the five classrooms, three are closed because of their rickety condition. (HT Photo)

“The third-floor rooms had maximum damage. We have vacated the rooms and shifted 30 nursing students from that floor and shifted them to the CVTC nursing quarters in the hospital,” said an official, of KEM Hospital administration.

The administration will meet additional municipal commissioner Dr Sanjeev Kumar on November 9 to finalise accommodation for other nursing students and staff.

“We have found several other accommodations, as of now, the nursing classes will continue in the same building for the time being,” added the official.

The incident on November 3, was the fifth in the one week when plasters came off from the ceilings of the three-storey building. Nurses said they had written seven to eight letters to the administration last year regarding the dilapidated conditions of the building.

The building has 211 rooms and five classrooms. Of the five classrooms, three are closed because of their rickety condition.

In 2018, a structural audit was conducted. It found that the building is a C2 B structure which means a repair can be done without vacating the premises. However, nurses complained that no repair was done. While the KEM administration said they have expedited the repair work, the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission had also sent suo moto notice to the BMC for the November 3 incident.

The commission has asked for a detailed report on actions taken by the BMC on the safety of the nursing students and maintenance of the building.