Mid-day Impact: Worli Koliwada gets back its dispensary

Two days after midday reported about how Worli Koliwada was robbed of medical care after a 60yearold structure housing a civic dispensary was demolished in August the BMC moved on a war footing to reopen the facility Residents told midday that construction activity had begun and furniture and fixtures have arrived at the old municipal school ground in Varas LaneA health official at one of the temporary cabins that has started functioning as a dispensary for the residents PicCourtesy Hemangi WorlikarActivistadvocate Sharad Koli who had threatened legal action thanked midday and said ldquoConstruction has begun and by Saturday afternoon the dispensary started functioning from a container Eight of the 15 staff who were transferred temporarily to Prabhadevi including a doctor were called back to Koliwada and eight patients were treatedrdquoAaditya intervenesKoli said the containers were lying unused for weeks and residents did not know what they were for ldquoThey were left with no choice but to go to expensive private doctorsrdquo he said ldquoAnd the Prabhadevi dispensary is far from Koliwada which left many senior citizens and women to opt for home remedies or overthecounter medicines It is only after midday published the story that the local ward office and the health officials swung into actionrdquoFurniture and fittings arrive at the temporary facility on SaturdayAdvocate Dhanpal Solanki Jain joined in ldquoI sincerely thank midday for taking up this vital issue I happened to meet Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray at an event and I showed him the midday report He assured immediate action and the next day work startedrdquoThreestorey replacementHemangi Worlikar former Shiv Sena UBT corporator promised to follow up with the civic authorities so that construction work for a new threestorey welfare centre with inhouse dispensary and a laboratory begins at the original site ldquoAt present Koliwada does not even have a BMCrun school A file has been sent for CRZ clearance The proposed school work can start where the temporary containers are nowrdquoSantosh Kumar Dhonde Assistant Municipal Commissioner GSouth Ward said ldquoWe have made temporary arrangements using the PORTA cabins for the residents and some shifting work was done on SaturdayrdquoDr Virendra Mohite Medical Officer of Health GSouth Ward confirmed civil work began on Saturday ldquoPotable water connection electric wiring lights fans and air conditions for the PORTA cabins toilet work laying of sewage line compound wall fencing and main gate are priority which should be completed in a weekrdquo he assuredBMC workers set up furniture inside a makeshift cabin from where the temporary dispensary started functioning on SaturdayAsked if funding was sanctioned he said the work is being done by the GSouth Engineering and Electrical Department so there is no inconvenience to residents On the construction of a new building Dr Mohite said ldquoThe plan is being made by municipal architects and I wonrsquot be able to comment at this momentrdquoNeed roundtheclock careResidents have also requested that the dispensary be kept open till 10 pm as working professionals come home late ldquoWe recently had a huge number of malaria dengue typhoid and jaundice cases which makes roundtheclock dispensaries a necessity hererdquo said advocate DhanpalExplaining the PORTA cabins Dr Mohite said ldquoOf the 15 staff who were shifted to Prabhadevi including a doctor and pharmacist eight were recalled The dispensary will function from 9 am to 4 pm and after recruiting additional manpower in two shiftsmdash9 am to 4 pm and 4 pm to 10 pm We intend to make all four PORTA cabins functional in a weekTwo will be for the dispensary one half will be converted to a pathology laboratory and an outsourced diagnostic centre will deploy their team and conduct all the 150 pathology tests The remaining two cabins will be used as health centres ndash where immunisation and DOTS programmes etc will be donerdquo