MT Agarwal Hospital again fails to reopen on schedule, patients in limbo
Residents have also complained about prolonged dust exposure due to inadequate safety measures during construction. While some steps were taken last year, many areas remain uncovered
MUMBAI: The much-anticipated post-redevelopment opening of the BMC-run MT Agarwal Hospital in Mulund has yet again missed its deadline, leaving residents in the eastern suburbs struggling with limited public healthcare options. While the civic body had set March 2025 as the target for completion, crucial work is still pending.
Last year, BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani had instructed the contractor to complete the hospital’s construction by March 2025. However, March has passed, and some work still remains incomplete. A senior BMC official, speaking on condition of anonymity said, “While the civil work has been completed, the electrical work is still pending and is expected to take another two months to finish.”
Originally established in 1958 with just 25 beds, MT Agarwal gradually expanded to a 110-bed facility. In 2015, the building was declared structurally unsafe, prompting the BMC to announce plans to rebuild it as a 470-bed superspeciality hospital offering advanced services like cardiology and neurology. However, the project was plagued by years of administrative delays—tendering issues, cost disagreements, and multiple contractor cancellations meant that actual work began only in 2023.
To keep services running during construction, the hospital was temporarily split across two separate premises in Mulund, roughly one km apart. Departments such as medicine and emergency services function from the T Ward office area, while diagnostic services like X-rays and sonography operate from a site behind R Mall. This set-up has made accessing healthcare cumbersome, especially for elderly and critically ill patients who must commute between the two sites for tests and treatment.
Seventy-year-old Dinesh Parmar, a diabetic from Bhandup, had to be taken to a private hospital after being referred to Sion Hospital from MT Agarwal. His wife, Pratima, said they had no choice but to spend over ₹20,000 at a private facility due to her husband’s fragile condition and the long commute. “If the new hospital was operational, we could have avoided this financial stress,” she said.
The hospital’s temporary ICU also raised serious concerns after it was revealed that unqualified doctors were employed. Following a spike in deaths, the BMC filed FIRs against three doctors and blacklisted the agency operating the ICU, which has since been shut down.
Residents have also complained about prolonged dust exposure due to inadequate safety measures during construction. While some steps were taken last year, many areas remain uncovered.
Former Mulund corporator Prakash Gangadhare wrote to Mumbai guardian minister Ashish Shelar last week, urging him to intervene and expedite the completion of the remaining work. “The delay in making this hospital fully operational is causing serious hardship to poor and middle-class families in the eastern suburbs,” Gangadhare said. “The OPD currently operates through a private partnership, and patients are being charged more than standard civic hospital rates. Those who should be receiving affordable care at a municipal facility are being forced into private hospitals, resulting in severe financial strain. This is unacceptable.”
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