Mumbai: ‘BMC apathy robbing us of public healthcare’

Irked by the demolition of the only municipal dispensarycumwelfare centre of Worli Koliwada village and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporationrsquos BMC failure to make the makeshift dispensary operational for weeks residents claim that the civic bodyrsquos inaction impacts their constitutional right to healthAn activist and practising advocate from Worli Koliwada Sharad Koli has threatened to seek legal remedy if the BMC does not make the dispensary functional at the earliest Born and brought up in Worli Koliwada Koli said ldquoThere is no primary municipal dispensary and vaccination centre for children in the village Isnrsquot public healthcare important and indispensable Isnrsquot it apathetic of the G South ward to delay building an alternative dispensaryrdquoKoli added ldquoContainers placed at Varas Lane in the old Municipal School compound to set up a temporary dispensarycumwelfare centre are not functioning yet If the issue is not resolved I will have to seek legal remedy making BMC and the ward officials party to itrdquoContainers near the site of the demolished dispensary A temporary facility has not been created yetThe over 60yearold groundplustwo dispensary was demolished after a structural audit declared it as C1 dilapidated and unsafe Koli explained that residents are forced to visit private doctors charging Rs 100 to Rs 150 and prescribing medicines from outside or visit hospitals like KEM and Podar where emergency cases are given priority over OPD Out Patient Department casesldquoThis is why these options are not preferred for minor ailmentsrdquo said Koli adding ldquoResidents are expected to go to the Prabhadevi dispensary where the Worli Koliwada dispensaryrsquos staff have been moved It takes nearly 30 minutes to reach there by foot Many senior citizens and women are resorting to home remedies and overthecounter treatments for minor ailments because of thisrdquoBMC dispensary trustedResident Vaibhav Worlikar 36 said ldquoThe civicrun dispensary has been there for decades My parents took me there when I was a child It is also trusted for immunisation of children My wife recently delivered our third child and we could not give the baby a followup vaccination on September 26 as the immunisation programme was cancelled for the day due to cleaning work at the shakhardquoVinayak Gajane a taxi driver said ldquoI have no choice but to visit a private doctor as I cannot afford to miss work I also do not have time to wait in queues or commute to the Prabhadevi dispensary or elsewhere as it is too far and unknown to me The village dispensary was affordable and easily accessiblerdquoResident Manish Pawar 32 said ldquoMany families are still dealing with the financial shock of the COVID19caused lockdown The civic dispensary was a boon as they could report to work by popping medicines provided free of cost and ensure that they donrsquot lose their pay to absenteeism The dispensary doctors are most trusted The ward office should have informed villagers when they plan to start the temporary dispensary Lack of effective communication leads to misunderstandingrdquoFinancial constraintsHemangi Worlikar former corporator from the Shiv Sena UBT said ldquoA new threestorey welfare centre with an inhouse dispensary equipped with a laboratory has been proposed in place of the demolished dispensarycumwelfare centre Due to financial constraints the temporary dispensary which was to be set up in the containers has been delayed However the issue has been resolved and soon the temporary dispensary will be made functional The immunisation facility will be resumed at the same facility I am following up on the matter with civic officialsrdquoAttempts to contact Santoshkumar Dhonde assistant municipal commissioner G South ward did not yield results Dr Virendra Mohite medical officer of health of G South Ward said ldquoWe are aware of residentsrsquo hardships The file to start the PORTA cabin container dispensary at Koliwada has been approved by the civic headquartersrdquoDr Mohite added ldquoWe are awaiting the allocation of approximately R1 crore Once we receive it civil and electrical work will be completed within a month and the temporary dispensary will be operational along the lines of Aapla Dawakhana from 9 am to 10 pm One team will run the dispensary from 9 am to 4 pm in the first shift Patients will have to buy an OPD paper at the charge of Rs 10 From 3 pm to 10 pm the OPD paper charge will be waived and all services will be provided free of cost Apart from minor ailments tuberculosis screening and treatment including DOTS programme are also conducted hererdquoAccording to Dr Mohite the dispensary receives 70 to 80 patients daily resulting in 1750 to 2000 patients in a month On average eight to 10 infants are immunised daily Regarding the construction of the new dispensary Dr Mohite said ldquoThe plan is being made by the municipal architects I wonrsquot be able to comment on the same at the momentrdquo80Approx no of daily patients at the civic dispensary