MT Agarwal Hospital Misses Another Deadline, Elderly And Poor Worst Affected

The long-awaited reopening of the BMC-run MT Agarwal Hospital in Mulund has once again been delayed, as per a Hindustan Times (HT) report. Despite the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) setting March 2025 as the target for completion, important work is still not finished. This delay is making life difficult for many residents in the eastern suburbs who rely on public healthcare.

Last year, BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani told the contractor to complete the hospital's construction by March 2025. Now that March has passed, the deadline has not been met. A senior BMC official, who did not want to be named, said that although the main building work is done, the electrical work is still going on. It may take another two months to finish.

MT Agarwal Hospital was first built in 1958 with only 25 beds. Over the years, it expanded to 110 beds. In 2015, the building was found to be structurally unsafe. The BMC then planned to rebuild it as a modern 470-bed superspeciality hospital with services like cardiology and neurology. But due to many delays-such as problems in giving work orders, cost issues, and frequent contractor changes-actual construction only began in 2023.

During the rebuilding, the hospital's services were moved to two different locations in Mulund, about one kilometre apart. While medicine and emergency care are being provided at the T Ward office, services like X-rays and sonography are taking place at a centre behind R Mall. This arrangement has made it very hard for patients, especially elderly people and those in serious condition, who have to travel between the two locations for treatment.

Dinesh Parmar, a 70-year-old diabetic from Bhandup, had to be taken to a private hospital after he was referred to Sion Hospital. His wife, Pratima, said they ended up spending over Rs 20,000 at the private hospital. "If the new hospital was open, we would not have faced such a big financial burden," she said.

Earlier, the hospital's temporary ICU had come under serious criticism when unqualified doctors were found to be working there. After a sudden rise in deaths, the BMC filed police complaints against three doctors and banned the agency running the ICU. The unit was later shut down.

Local residents have also complained about dust and poor safety during construction. Though some protective steps were taken last year, many parts are still not properly covered.

Last week, former Mulund corporator Prakash Gangadhare wrote to Mumbai guardian minister Ashish Shelar asking him to speed up the hospital's completion. "The delay is causing great problems for poor and middle-class families," he said. "The OPD is now being run through a private partnership, and patients are being charged more than usual civic hospital rates. People who should get affordable care at a public hospital are being forced to go to private ones. This is very unfair."

Residents now hope that the remaining work is completed soon, and the hospital is made fully operational without any further delay.