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PMC’s move to cancel hospital reservation in Kothrud faces opposition
According to the AAP, at least 6 lakh people are dependent on Sutar Hospital as there is no civic multispecialty hospital in the Kothrud area
Health activists and politicians are opposing the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) decision to cancel the reservation of Sutar Hospital on a plot of land in Kothrud.
On November 30, the PMC issued a public notice for the cancellation of the reservation of Sutar Hospital on the said plot. Sutar Hospital was developed on part of the plot bearing survey number 87 whereas the remaining part of the plot has several old houses and some vacant land.
The PMC decided to cancel the reservation of Sutar Hospital on the said plot according to the provisions of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act 1966 by claiming that the remaining part of the plot is occupied by many old houses. The decision to cancel the reservation of the hospital was taken earlier in February 2022 by the PMC city development committee. However, on Friday, December 29, 2023, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) submitted a letter to the PMC, raising objection and demanding that the decision be cancelled.
“The decision taken and passed by the city development committee has no indicative approver and is eventually illegal. The advertisement issued on the basis of the committee decision is illegal and the proceedings to cancel the reservation are completely illegal,” the AAP letter stated.
According to the AAP, at least 6 lakh people are dependent on Sutar Hospital as there is no civic multispecialty hospital in the Kothrud area. Pune city and Kothrud lack adequate public health facilities as per the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) criteria. Even in the past, AAP members had held hunger strikes outside Sutar Hospital.
Whereas health activist, Dr Abhijit More, said that as per the honourable Supreme Court orders, cancellation of a reservation for any public service should be the rarest of the rare decision which is not so in this case. “Sutar Hospital is the only public maternity hospital in the area without an emergency or caesarean facility. Still, the PMC has claimed that the decision has been taken as the hospital reservation requirement for the Kothrud area has been completed. Instead of upgrading Sutar Hospital, the civic body is cancelling the reservation,” Dr More said.
He informed that the public notice issued by the PMC is incomplete, and does not mention the exact size of the part of the Kothrud plot bearing survey number 87 which will be excluded from reservation. “The boundaries of the proposed area for cancellation of reservation are not drawn. The PMC has failed to start public services and facilities as per the reservation by occupying the reserved space in Pune city. Through this proposal, the PMC is trying to cover its failure,” Dr More said.
Vikas Dhakane, additional commissioner of the PMC, said that the said plot of land in Kothrud is private and does not belong to the PMC. “After the said land was reserved for the hospital, the land was taken over by the PMC and Sutar Hospital was developed. The remaining part of the land adjacent to the hospital already had several old houses on this reserved plot which are 25 to 30 years’ old. It is not possible to demolish such a large number of houses or purchase the land. However, the objection will be considered and discussed, and further decisions will be taken,” Dhakane said.
