Work on new block at JJ Hospital hit due to RMC shortage

The hospital is supposed to have four wings, of which two are supposed to be ready by June 2024, said the official. The deadline for the entire project is August 2025

Mumbai: Construction work on Sir JJ Hospital’s ten-storey super-speciality building has hit a roadblock as the contractor handling the project has been facing problems in procuring ready mix concrete (RMC). The average daily requirement for RMC at the hospital is 30 trucks, but the ongoing crackdown on air pollution in the city by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the civic body has hit the supply of RMC.

JJHospital - JJ Hospital - Sir J.J. Hospital

A senior official from the hospital said the contractor had written a letter to the state’s public works department (PWD) three days ago, saying construction work could be delayed owing to short supply of ready-mix concrete.

“On a heavy workload day, we need close to 50 RMC trucks. But for the last one week, we have been getting irregular supply of RMC, which is delaying the construction work. We are not sure how long the supply issue will last, so we decided to inform the PWD,” said a manager handling the super-specialty building project.

So far, 28% of construction work has been completed, and the contractor has missed the deadline of July 20. He was earlier fined ₹4 crore and issued a show cause notice for delay.

“The contractor missed the earlier deadline owing to delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other hurdles like getting permission for cutting trees and problems with piling work. The new medical education minister Hasan Mushrif extended the deadline by 18 months,” said a PWD official.

The hospital is supposed to have four wings, of which two are supposed to be ready by June 2024, said the official. The deadline for the entire project is August 2025.

JJ Hospital currently has 1,200 beds, and the new building with 10 floors and two basements can accommodate another 1,200 beds. Once work is completed, JJ will be the largest hospital in Mumbai.

The super specialty building was planned in 2010, and the then chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad had put it on the fast track. After the BJP government took over in 2014, the then medical education minister Girish Mahajan got all the sanctions. The bhoomi poojan was done in 2019 and the work order was issued in July 2020. The contractor was supposed to complete the work in 36 months.

The ₹778.65 crore project houses a VVIP ward and departments of cardiovascular, neurosurgery, paediatric, urology, gastroenterology, surgical oncology, neurology, endocrinology, paediatrics, nephrology, chest and pulmonary diseases, pharmacology, haematology, rheumatology and medical oncology.