Encroachments around govt hospitals await Sindh Govt attention

KARACHI: The massive encroachments outside the major government hospitals of Karachi cause hardships for the patients and their attendants and inconvenience the medical fraternity.  

The illegal parking and encroachments outside the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) are causing severe inconvenience to visit patients, attendants and medical staff. 

An official at CHK said that the massive encroachments were causing hindrance in the movement of ambulances carrying patients and creating problems for people rushing to the hospital’s emergency. He urged the authorities concerned to immediately take notice of the situation and remove the encroachments, and depute anti-encroachment officials outside the institutions during rush hours. 

A patient in the hospital’s emergency ward, Rehan Khan, said that he had to wait for an hour to enter the hospital because of the traffic jams caused by encroachments and illegal parking outside the hospital. 

On the other hand, some private rescue organisations had also set up ambulance counters outside the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, causing a nuisance to visit patients and the medical fraternity. Meanwhile, rickshaws and taxi drivers had also established their permanent stands around the hospital in connivance with local police. 

Similarly, all the linked roads leading to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital have been encroached by medical stores and private ambulances in connivance with KMC officials. The encroachments cause constant road blockages in rush hours.  

Over 15,000 to 20,000 patients visit different OPDs of these three health facilities each day. 

The issue urgently needs the attention of the local government provincial minister and the Anti-Encroachment Cell of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to resolve the matter on a permanent basis and to end patient miseries.