Navi Mumbai to get another mother-and-child hospital in Digha

Residents of Digha can heave a sigh of relief as Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation will develop a mother-and-child (MCH) hospital in their area; work to be completed by 2023

The residents of Digha can now heave a sigh of relief as the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has decided to develop a mother-and-child (MCH) hospital in their area.

Navi Mumbai to get its sixth mother-and-child (MCH) hospital in Digha. The one in picture is the MCH in Turbhe. (BACHCHAN KUMAR/HT PHOTO)

The civic body has set aside a budget of ₹14Cr for developing a six-storey building for the hospital. They are also done with the tendering process and the work at the site would start next month, a senior officer said.

Due to the migration of people from different parts of the state, the population of Digha (a small township near Airoli in Navi Mumbai) has gone up to above one lakh. However, the area does not have any mother-and-child hospital till date. The local residents and activists had long been demanding such a hospital in that area.

A senior officer from NMMC said, “We did not have any plot to develop a hospital in Digha. Therefore, we discussed the matter with Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and they allotted a plot for the hospital a few months ago. Recently, we also completed the tendering process and the work on the plot will start in October. The work on this 50-bed hospital will be completed in 18 months. The new hospital will be thrown open to the public in the first half of 2023.”

Presently, NMMC has a total of five mother-and-child hospitals – in Belapur, Nerul, Turbhe, Koparkhairane and Airoli.

Chitra Patil, 48, a resident of Digha, said, “As there is no mother-and-child hospital in our area at present, we have to go to the hospitals in Turbhe and Airoli. It is very inconvenient as the ambulances are also not available at times.”