Even as state-of-the-art health equipments worth about Rs 4 crore is gathering dust, the State Government has been dithering for over a decade on a proposal to set up a chest institute at the British era sanatorium at Bhowali.
It is believed that the role of this historic 400-bedded sanatorium at Bhowali has remained restricted to looking after only those patients who have remained unattended under the DOTs campaign following the success of DOTs programme which was launched to cure cases of tuberculosis. The state of things prodded the then ND Tiwari regime in 2002 to take a decision to set up a modern chest institute at this sanatorium with a Budgetary estimate of Rs 400 crore.
The then officials concerned imported some modern medical equipments, including CT scan, ultrasound machine, to name a few, worth Rs 4 crore. However since then nothing has been done to give a concrete shape to this ambitious health project. Resultantly, the imported modern and sophisticated health gadgets keep rotting at Bhowali sanatorium campus for over a decade. Since the equipment maintenance contract has also expired in 2009, the conditions of these costly health equipments are bad. A proposal was submitted to the State Government, seeking some funds for the maintenance.
But the said proposal has been pending with the State Government for long, as the officials concerned said. The matter of concern is that present state of the sanatorium is so poor that it has no basic health facilities to cure the tuberculosis patients who visit it occasionally. The health officials concerned are being forced to acquire necessary medicines from other Government hospitals to deal with such cases.
The role of the Sanatorium has remained restricted following the ongoing DOTs programme. But in case any patient comes here we do everything with whatever we have at our disposal to have him or her cured, said T C Pant, Chief Medical Superintendent, the Bhowali sanatorium. However, with the chest institute proposal still pending with the Government, we can say nothing, he added. Notably, the much- talked about sanatorium was once owned by Nawab of Rampur, Hamid Khan. He donated it to the then British regime in 1940. Since then, this 400- bedded health centre served as the prime health centre for tuberculosis patients for so many decades. But successive Governments in the State have remained apathetic to the Sanatorium.