Thane: Doctors have often equated Mumbaikars state of mind to a pressure cooker ready to explode. Now, adding to the stress is a proposal to relocate the citys closest mental hospital, the Regional Mental Hospital, at Thane.
Vinayak Mahajan, 75,a former clinical psychologist at the Thane mental hospital has filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court opposing the proposal to shift the mental hospital to Bhiwandi, which is 30 kms from Thane. According to a proposal mooted by local politicians and a former Member of Parliament, Prakash Paranjpe, the mental hospital will make way for a suburban railway station and a commercial complex.
The hospital is spread across 72 acres of prime land between Mulund and Thane stations. The green expanse in the heart of the city is an ideal place for psychiatric treatment. Its 1,850 beds often fall short as it is the only state-run mental hospital for Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Raigad and tribal districts like Nandurbar and Dhulia. Three other government mental hospitals are situated in Yerwada, Nagpur and Ratnagiri.
The PIL has sought the courts intervention in restraining the state government from shifting the mental hospital, stating that such a move would cause hardship to patients and their relatives. Petitioners lawyer, Indrajeet Kulkarni told the court last week that the proposal to relocate the hospital was mooted first in 2003 by Paranjpe seeking allotment of the land to the railways. In June 2007,state minister Ganesh Naik called a meeting to discuss the proposal. The HC had then asked the petitioner to join the railways as a party to petition.
Sources in the state health department said that they had opposed the proposal. The hospital is located strategically in the heart of the city and is accessible both by rail and bus. "Shifting the hospital to a remote area like Bhiwandi will go against the global mental health policy of providing psychiatric care within the community," the source said. The land for the hospital was donated by Navrottamdas Madhavdas in the 1901.
"In fact, the 107-year-old hospital should be declared a heritage structure," the source added.
The PIL adds that commercial interests should not be allowed to over-ride public interest. Apart from housing persons with serious mental ailments and providing treatment to visiting patients, the hospital also serves as a training centre for psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and social workers.
