the goan I network
MARGAO
The collapse of a small portion of a beam of Hospicio building housing the pharmacy brought to the fore the same old question: How many more months will it take for the government to commission the long-delayed South Goa district hospital?
It was at around 1.30 am on Saturday that debris from the beam came crashing down on the ground housing the Hospicio pharmacy. Following the incident, medicine bottles were seen all strewn on the floor.
Hospicio authorities headed by Medical Superintendent Dr Ira Almeida later got the work of scaffolding done at the spot.
However, the bigger question of commissioning of the South Goa district hospital, which is under construction since 2009, hangs in limbo.
The Hospicio annex building, which had earlier housed the casualty, has been declared unsafe for human habitation after railings of the building came crashing down on the relative of a patient two years ago.
Saturday’s incident only goes to show that the other buildings in the Hospicio complex are also not in safe condition. In this situation, it is to be seen whether the Director of Health Services will ask the PWD to conduct the structural stability test of the building, which houses the pharmacy and OPDs on the ground floor and the administration office on the first floor.
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat visited Hospicio on Saturday morning to take stock of the station. He spoke to Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and the Director of Health Services and discussed the situation. “I spoke to the Health Minister and brought to his attention the collapse of the portion of the beam of the pharmacy building,” Kamat said.
When The Goan contacted Hospicio medical superintendent, Dr Ira Almeida, she pointed out that a small portion of the beam (slab) came down, but did not cause much damage. “After the incident, we got the authorities to carry out the scaffolding work on the spot,” she added.
