Palghar hospital without OC asked to shut down

Palghar: The hospital which was operating in a building without an occupancy certificate has been asked to stop providing medical services with immediate effect by the Palghar nagar parishad.

A division bench of the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission had filed a suo moto case against the director of Relief Hospitals which is operating in Palghar. In the hearing held before the commission on Nov 18, the commission had asked the hospital to obtain the occupancy certificate for the building in which it is situated.

The commission considered the request of the hospital as the builder was not taking steps to obtain the occupancy certificate and gave a month to the aggrieved party to rectify this error. Upon the completion of a month, the Palghar nagar parishad initiated action for its closure and asked Mahavitran authorities to disconnect the power supply. The Palghar nagar parishad has also displayed a board informing of closure of the hospital from Nov 16.

According to Dr Vishal Kodgirkar, Relief Hospital was started during the second wave of Covid on May 1, 2021, at the hands of the then Collector of Palghar Dr Manik Gursal. It was one of the few Covid hospitals in the district. Dr Kodgirkar admitted that the hospital building is yet to receive the occupancy certificate and it is following up on this issue with the builder. “There are currently nine patients admitted for treatment and two had been operated upon on Dec 16,” he said, adding that the next hearing before the commission is scheduled on Dec 22.

A nagar sevak from Palghar told FPJ that the hospital was started in commercial galas of the building and after the increase in FSI by the government, the builder has increased a floor and the construction of the same is yet to be completed. The occupancy certificate can be obtained only after the completion of all work. He added that there are different development control regulations for hospitals and this compliance is likely to take a long time.