BMC withdraws eviction notice given to trust-run Andheri hospital

The BMC on Friday informed the Bombay High Court that it is withdrawing an eviction notice given to the Andheri-run BSES hospital run by the Brahmakumari trust.

A division bench of Justice Anoop Mohta and Justice Amjad Sayyed was informed by BMC counsel S U Kamdar that the corporation will issue a fresh notice to the hospital directing them to appear before the municipal commissioner for a hearing. In a letter dated July 11, 2014, the trust, which has been managing the hospital since 2002, had appealed for a personal hearing with the BMC.

The hospital, which was constructed on BMC land, was issued the eviction notice for allegedly violating several conditions of a tripartite agreement. The notice, dated July 5, 2014, stated that the 120-bedded hospital should be vacated within two weeks as the BMC plans to shut it down over alleged violation of structural norms and denial of services to poor patients.

A letter issued by the BMC to the hospital reads that unauthorised alterations were carried out in the building to which the chief fire officer had strongly objected and that passages of the staircases have been blocked, causing a fire hazard. It further added that raising the height of the building up to seven floors amounted to FSI violations and that audited accounts have not been submitted to the civic body.

In it's defense, the hospital said that it treated 200 patients every day, of which 160 in-house and outpatient department patients are treated for free as per the charity commissioner's requirements.