The massive encroachments outside the major government hospitals of Karachi urgently need attention of LG provincial minister and Anti-Encroachment Cell of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to resolve the issue on permanent basis and end patient’s miseries.
The illegal parking and encroachments outside the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) are causing serious inconvenience to visiting patients, attendants and medical staff.
An administrative official at CHK said that the massive encroachments were not only causing hindrance in the movement of ambulances carrying patients but also creating problems to 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.
Rizwan Ahmad, a patient in the hospital’s emergency ward, said that he had to wait for half-an-hour to enter the hospital because of the traffic jams caused by encroachments and illegal parking outside the hospital.
Similarly, some private rescue organizations had set up ambulance counters outside the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, causing nuisance to visiting patients and medical fraternity. Meanwhile, rickshaws and taxi drivers had also established their permanent stands around the hospital in connivance with local police.
On the other hand, all the linked roads leading to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital has 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.
JPMC Deputy Director & Focal Person Dr Jawaid Akhtar Jamali said the hospital authorities and patients had been facing difficulties due to traffic jams in rush hours. He informed that administration had requested the DIG traffic to play his role in removal of illegal parking and encroachments.
