KARACHI, June 21: Some staffers of the government on Wednesday razed the boundary wall of the Nazimabad Chest Clinic, a constituent part of the Dow University of Health Sciences, without authority.
The Vice-Chancellor of the DUHS, Prof Masood Hameed Khan, said the boundary wall, which was broken partially on Tuesday was completely demolished on Wednesday by the city government staff, without any legal provision.
This is a clear case of trespassing and probably undertaken with the intention of adding up the precious land of the University to the Abbasi Shaheed hospital, which is adjacent to the Chest Clinic, added Prof Hameed.
He said the Clinic in question, part of the Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, had been functioning for the last 25-30 years as a TB and chest disease clinic.
“The Ojha Institute is a constituent part of the DHUS, and no quarter will be allowed to usurp the land in question,” he said.
“The varsity reserves the right to challenge the illegal action of its property’s demolition. We are also going to inform the chancellor of the varsity about the development,” said the VC.
The Director of the Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, Dr Ahsraf Sadiq, told Dawn that the Nazimabad Chest Clinic was functioning at its present place for the last 30 years and catering to patients coming from the surrounding and far flung areas. About 2,000 patients visited the clinic everyday, he added.
He said that initially, the Clinic’s premises comprised an area of about six acres.
In addition to handing over some of its land to the Abbasi Hospital for establishment of a nursing hostel in 1982, the Clinic withdrew from another 1.2 acres of its land in 1993, which was proposed to be used for the establishment of a trauma centre of the Abbasi Hospital, he added.
He continued that the Abbasi Hospital’s officials had recently called on the VC to get the leftover piece of the Clinic’s land for establishment of private wards for the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, upon which they were clearly told that it would not be viable for the university to surrender more its land.
However, in order to get things settled in a disciplined manner, visitors from the Abbasi Hospital were also told that they could submit a written proposal in this regard for the consideration of the university syndicate and the office of the controlling authority of the DHUS, which remained unfulfilled to date.Despite attempts, the medical superintendent of the Abbasi Shaheed hospital could not be reached for his version.
A person identifying himself as the PRO, from his (MS) office, said that Dr Masroor was on round at that moment and was also dealing with a delegation, but he would contact Dawn as soon as he got free.
