The blood bank at Bidhannagar Subdivisional Hospital was inaugurated on Tuesday. While chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who also holds the health portfolio, announced the opening along with a host of other projects from Krishnanagar, MLA Sujit Bose was present at the site to cut the ceremonial ribbon.

“The funds had been promised the day the chief minister visited our hospital in 2016. It took eight-nine months more for the equipment to reach. We got the licence from the Central Drug Control on February 8. The project cost came to around Rs 90 lakh,” said hospital superintendent Partha Pratim Guha. The blood bank will cater to the 6.5 lakh population of the municipal area as also patients from South and North 24-Parganas, he added.

The guests at the inauguration were given a tour of the facility with two blood collection monitors that  stop collection automatically on reaching 350ml, two 600-unit blood bag refrigerators and a walk-in cooler where a temperature of 2 to 6°C is maintained.

“We are dealing with only whole blood. Component separation has not started yet. The reagents and blood bags being used are also on loan from the Central Blood Bank. So we are not independent yet,” said medical officer-in-charge Rathindra Nath Biswas.

The superintentant asked Bose for a blood transportation van to carry back the blood collected from camps. “He asked me to send a proposal,” Guha said.

The hospital has also got a C Arm machine for orthopaedic surgery and an USG Doppler.

Till March, the blood bank will be open 8am to 8pm for six days a week. Sunday will be closed.