Maharashtra govt promises action on JJ hospital land encroachment

The state government has decided to initiate action against encroachers on the JJ hospital land.

Nearly 20% of the 47-acre campus of the state-run hospital has been illegally occupied by outsiders, many suspected to be illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

A DNA report on Tuesday had highlighted how the efforts of the hospital to remove them had proved futile.

The Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have decided to take up the matter and intensify their stir against illegal Bangladeshi settlers.

“We will be sending an expert team of doctors and officers to the hospital’s campus. If we find anything illegal, we will remove it immediately,” said Varsha Gaikwad, minister for medical education. The administration of Sir JJ hospital comes under this ministry.

According to sources, the hospital has been facing the problem for a long time. Some of the huts even take their electricity supply from the hospital campus. The campus has been inspected by the public works department (PWD) officials in the past. While they have found clear cases of encroachments, they have not been able to remove the occupants.  

 After the DNA report, the hospital administration has decided to get its act together and tackle the problem seriously. Most of the staff members from the hospital, including doctors, nurses and resident doctors, reside on the campus. But some doctors are still in the waiting for the staff quarters. Some of them have moved to St George’s Hospital campus. The encroached land could be utilised to provide them housing, they feel.

One of the senior doctors, requesting anonymity, mentioned that the police should tackle this issue on a priority basis. The hospital administration is ready to co-operate with them, but the action is not initiated.

Shiv Sena, which has always been aggressive on the issue of illegal Bangladeshi migrants, vowed to fight against the encroachments.

“We have been agitating against this problem since many days. We had even approached home minister RR Patil, but there was no outcome. The government just listens to us, but ultimately does nothing,” said Ajay Choudhary, president of south-central zone, Shiv Sena. He added that the party would continue to raise the issue until the problem is solved.

The MNS has also decided to fight for the hospital. “Our delegation will meet the hospital authority and ask them to take immediate action against the encroachments,” said Sanjay Naik, who heads the Byculla zone of the party.

When contacted, Dr TP Lahane, dean of JJ hospital, said, “We are definitely going to remove all illegal hutments. We have already written to the city’s collector to remove these.’’ The collector’s office will soon serve eviction notices, he added.

Meanwhile, a lawyer has contacted Lahane and has sought to file a public interest litigation against these illegal hutments.