Raiganj, Sept. 23: The state health department has asked the district hospital authorities here to shut down the eye bank that was set up in 2008 as it was not utilised over the past four years.

The move has been opposed by the chairperson of the patient welfare committee of the hospital and former Trinamul councillor of Raiganj municipality, Keya Chowdhury. She said she would take up the matter with the state health minister so that the facility could be made functional once again.

Sources in the district hospital said a two-member team of the health department had inspected the hospital on Tuesday.

"The team members inspected the departments and when they asked about the eye bank, they were told that it hadn't been functioning for the past four years. They then asked the hospital authorities to shut it down and transfer equipment like refrigerators and sterilising machines for other use in the eye department," a source said.

The eye bank is located on the ground floor of the hospital building and comprises a lobby and four rooms.

Gautam Mondal, the hospital superintendent, confirmed the instruction to shut down the eye bank. "A health department team has asked us to use the space of the eye bank for holding programmes on eye donation awareness," he said.

Hospital sources said the first eye donation had been conducted on January 2, 2009, after the passing away of Karunamoyee Bhattacharya, 78, a resident of Tulsipara. She had pledged to donate her eyes after death. The sources said, on January 24 of the same year, the corneas were grafted onto the eyes of a girl from neighbouring South Dinajpur who was visually-challenged from birth. There have been 26 pairs of cornea donation, followed by grafting, at the hospital till 2012. However, no cornea grafting has been conducted at the eye bank in the past four years.

"Our district hospital was the first in north Bengal to start cornea grafting. However, the drive to create awareness of eye donation has suffered over the past few years. The hospital has two eye surgeons at present. We will not let the eye bank facility close down. The eye bank will remain. We will start an awareness campaign on eye donation right away. We will also appeal to the chief minister to appoint two more eye specialists at the hospital. We cannot allow such an important facility to be shut down," said Chowdhury.