Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate AIIMS Kalyani to the nation during a virtual inauguration ceremony on Sunday. The 960-bed hospital was built at a cost of ₹1,754 crore and began operations in 2019. Officials however say that the hospital located in West Bengal’s Nadia district is currently operating without an environmental clearance.
According to the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, AIIMS Kalyani is currently in the ‘violation category’ and faces an environmental damage cost and penalty summed up to over ₹15 crore. The institution has however applied for an exemption and contends that a healthcare facility does not require an environmental clearance.
“The authorities of the AIIMS Kalyani had applied for environmental clearance on October 6, 2022. Its construction started before they obtained the clearance,” WBPCB Chairman Kalyan Rudra told a press conference.
He contended that the state government had no authority to exempt the amount. The WBPCB said that it had filed a case before ACJM’s court in Kalyani over the matter.
Details shared by the PIB in late December 2023 however make no mention of the issue. 22 new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences are being set up across the country under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana and currently remain at varying levels of progress.
“Construction work completed. MBBS classes, OPD services and IPD services operationalised,” the PIB press note said about AIIMS Kalyani.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Gujarat’s first AIIMS during a visit to Rajkot on February 25. The top official will arrive at AIIMS Rajkot on Sunday Sunday afternoon and later address a rally at the Race Course ground. He will also take part in a kilometre-long road show from the old airport to the venue of the public rally. Modi will virtually inaugurate four other newly-built AIIMS — in Mangalagiri, Bathinda, Rae Bareli, and Kalyani during the function.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Published: 24 Feb 2024, 07:01 PM IST
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