The groundbreaking ceremony of Bhandup’s long-awaited municipal super-speciality hospital, which was performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, has become a subject of controversy. Congress leaders claim their party had performed the rite in March 2022 and construction work was already underway; the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) termed these statements a poor attempt to seek attention. Sources in the BMC administration told mid-day a ceremony was indeed held by Congress leaders but it was not an official one.

The 10-storey, 360-bed Bhandup hospital will be built at a cost of Rs 464 crore. Though the demand for the multi-speciality hospital was a decade old, the administration green-lit it on March 6. On January 20, mid-day reported about three other civic super-speciality hospitals in the suburbs whose redevelopment work had begun four years ago but were yet to be completed.