The long-awaited super-speciality expansion of Mumbai’s Sir JJ Hospital remains stalled nearly three years after its planned completion, with unfinished construction, pending statutory clearances and uncertainty over staffing delaying the facility’s operational launch.
The project, whose foundation stone was laid in 2017, was originally scheduled to become functional by December 2023. However, construction disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic pushed the timeline further, and the facility is yet to receive its Occupation Certificate (OC).
Spread across 44 acres, JJ Hospital currently has 1,352 beds, including 250 intensive care beds, while its outpatient departments receive more than 3,000 patients each day. The proposed expansion comprises four wings and was planned to increase the hospital’s capacity for specialised treatment while easing pressure on its existing infrastructure.
Although the main structures are largely in place, substantial internal work remains. Wings A and B are close to completion, but lifts and escalators are yet to be installed, while mandatory fire safety approvals are also pending. These facilities are particularly important because outpatient departments are planned on the lower levels of the new buildings.
A senior project official said, “Though the hospital was set to be ready by December this year, we have seen quite a few delayed Decembers, and so we are not sure when we will finally be able to move into this facility,” the official said.
Hospital dean Dr Ajay Bhandarwar said obtaining the OC is essential before the new complex can be occupied. “Unless we get the Occupation Certificate, we cannot shift in,” he told HT.
The project has also been scaled back because authorities permitted only 10-storey structures instead of the originally proposed 20-storey buildings.
“Initially, we proposed 20-storey buildings, but managed to get permission for only ten-storey buildings. This curtails our plans to accommodate additional facilities within the new complex,” Bhandarwar said.
The additional floors were also intended to provide accommodation for resident doctors. “We have about 50 medical undergraduates and 300 postgraduates joining every year, and finding accommodation for them has been a struggle. Had we received permission for a few additional floors, we could have accommodated them in the new wings,” he said.
The hospital will now need separate approvals for a residential facility and is also seeking about 10,000 sq ft occupied by the JJ Mahanagar Blood Bank.
Source: Hindustan Times
