Violation of parking norms may become a thing of the past once the parking complex-cum-mini stadium is completed

Jan. 7: Dispur has decided to turn the playground adjacent to Gauhati Medical College Hospital into a mini-stadium-cum-parking lot to curb traffic chaos in the area.

The project will be completed in six months.

An Assam government official said the PWD has completed 50 per cent of the project. The rest is expected to be over within July. He said earth-filling of the playground is almost done.

“The plan includes a gallery and parking space for nearly 300 cars under the gallery. The project has been designed in such a way that even when the stadium will host games or events, drivers would not face any inconvenience to park their vehicles. This project will help check incidents of vehicle theft on the hospital campus,” the official said.

The GMCH, the largest public hospital in the state, has been facing great inconveniences for lack of parking space. Besides vehicles belonging to doctors, ambulances and hospital buses, the hospital has to accommodate thousands of cars of patients and their attendants everyday.

“There were instances of untoward incident caused by the parking problem. Last year vehicles of some junior doctors and visitors to the hospital were damaged during a clash over parking. Even though the GMCH created parking lots and started collecting fees, the system did not work,” a source said.

The principal-cum-chief superintendent of GMCH, M.M. Deka, said the project once completed would put an end to problems related to parking in the hospital. He has requested the PWD to complete the project within the stipulated time.

Deka said construction of the mini stadium would also help the GMCH encourage sports activities, particularly among the students.

The GMC Students’ Union and Junior Doctors’ Association have appreciated the government’s efforts to implement the project and hoped that it would be completed on time.

“The college building, situated atop Narakasur Hill, does not have any ground for sports activities. The condition of the existing playground in front of the hospital building at Bhangagarh is terrible. Even in the dry season a portion of the ground remains under water. The authorities did not take any step to develop the ground despite repeated demands. This project to upgrade the ground will help us play various sports,” a student of the medical college said.

The project will also help the GMCH generate revenue by letting out the stadium to various organisations to hold events and programmes.