Friday’s incident when a piece of an iron railing from the balcony of the second floor of the building came crashing down on a woman visitor to the Hospicio has thrown up a host of questions for the Hospicio authorities, PWD officials and the government to answer.
MARGAO
Questions are being raised when was the last time the Public Works Department had conducted the structural stability test of the Hospicio three-storeyed building housing the casualty and the female medicine ward? Or, did the Hospicio authorities ask for a fresh structural stability test and the PWD has not initiated the study till date?
The PWD had declared the first two-floors of the building unsafe over a year ago, but a question is asked whether the remaining portion of the building, including the first floor, housing the female medicine ward and the coronary unit, besides the ground floor which plays host to the casualty, safe for human habitation? And, whether there’s any logic behind the decision of the authorities to declare only the top floors of the building unsafe and allow the hospital to occupy the first floor and the ground floor when even visitors to the hospital now run the risk of being struck by the debris falling from the unsafe portion of the building?
Inquiries by The Goan has revealed that Hospicio had sought a fresh structural stability test of the unsafe hospital building housing the casualty, but sources said the exercise is yet to take off till date. When The Goan contacted Hospicio Medical Superintendent Dr Aira Almeida to shed light on the structural stability test, she said the last such test was conducted around half-a-decade ago. “I understand that the last structural stability test of the building was done during the tenure of then Medical Superintendent Dr Ruando De Sa. I had recently asked the PWD to conduct a fresh test to ascertain the stability of the entire building. I am awaiting a
reply from the PWD,” she
informed.
Dr Aira admitted that Friday’s incident only confirmed that not only the top two floors of the building are unsafe, but the entire premises used by the visitors remains unsafe. She, however, hastened to add that looking for an alternate space to house the casualty and the female medicine ward may be a bit difficult, adding that the hospital authorities were anxiously looking forward for the commissioning of the new district hospital to shift the operations. “Besides the casualty and the female medicine ward, our main concern is the lift which is used by patients, not only to go to the first floor, but to other units,” she added.
Incidentally, Hospicio may issue a fresh notice to the dialysis center operating in the building to look out for new premises given the unsafe nature of the building. “Hospicio had sent notices to the centre. Even the district collector had once issued a notice to the centre to move out, but in vain,” she added.
When The Goan contacted Executive Engineer Franco Fernandes to shed light on Friday’s incident, he said the top two floors of the building have already been declared unsafe. “When the PWD has declared a portion of the building unsafe, the Hospicio ought to have taken further action,” Fernandes said, while saying that he is putting up a note to the PWD higher authorities to conduct structural stability test of all the government buildings in South Goa, including Hospicio to check the structural stability of these buildings.
