Sambalpur, Aug. 9: The proposed maternity care centre at Badbazar in Sambalpur will become operational shortly. The Sambalpur civic body has taken steps to complete building the half-finished building and make the maternity care centre operational.

Vice-chairperson of Sambalpur municipality Siddharth Saha said: “We had visited the site.

The chairperson of the Sambalpur municipality was also present during the visit. The building is structurally completed. But it required some finishing work.” The foundation stone for the building was laid in 1998 and work was left half-completed.

“The tender to complete construction work will be floated soon. After the building is completed, we have decided to appoint doctors in the maternity care centre and make it operational,” said Saha.

The maternity care centre was conceived to cater to the needs of people of Badbazar, Khetrajpur, Remed and some more areas of the city. It was supposed to be a 10-bed maternity care centre.

“The incomplete building was lying abandoned. Though the foundation stone for the proposed maternity care centre was laid long ago, the construction of the building is yet to be completed. However, the civic body has now thought of completing the construction of the building and make the maternity care centre operational. The people of Khetrajpur, Badbazar, Remed and Cheruapara can avail the facility once the centre becomes operational,” said Sehadev Dash, a senior citizen of the city.

“Finally, the civic body thought of completing the construction of the proposed maternity care centre at Badbazar. But the civic body should not constrain itself to completing the construction only. It should also take steps to appoint doctors and other medical staff,” said Geeta Rani Mohapatra, a local resident.