LARKANA: Expansion of the existing facilities at Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), Larkana, has been put on the backburner only because the plot being offered for the plan awaits a nod from the SIUT management itself, according to sources.

The SIUT wanted a piece of land as per its own parameters, the sources told Dawn.

It is up to the SIUT management to expand its services, now after the Sindh government has already earmarked Rs4.5 billion in the current budget for the plan, which envisages addition of state-of-the-art facilities at the institute ranging from dialysis to robotic surgeries.

As part of the plan, the SIUT had also placed advertisements on July 20 for different positions for its Larkana and Sukkur institutes.

Sources privy to the plan say that SIUT’s Larkana building stands on an area of 35,240 sq.ft. (vide survey No.810) and is also under the physical possession of its management. The SIUT has been functional in this building since 2020-21.

At a meeting held on July 23 at Commissioner’s Office, the participants had minutely discussed three proposed sites suggested by the deputy commissioner.

Of them suggestion for one, where the SIUT existed currently, was referred to the secretary of land utilisation (vide letter No.LG/-792) dated March 13, 2025.

The revenue department had identified two more sites, situated next to the Day Care Dialysis Centre of SIUT with the idea to comfortably undertake expansion as per the needs.

The SIUT wanted to get built a vertical multi-storey building. On further inquiry, it was learnt that on the proposed land, certain bungalows belonging to paramedics’ school were present and some areas were illegally occupied where people resided.

The very issue was discussed with the concerned institution of paramedics who were willing to vacate for the greater cause, said a source.

While the issue of people living near the present SIUT building was yet to be resolved as the occupants would offer resistance, though living illegally.

The authorities concerned were contemplating to negotiate and provide for the dispossessed occupants of these constructions with an equitable and viable alternative.

Once the SIUT management gave a go-ahead to this proposal, the plan would come into force.

Another plot measuring two acres of land was identified on Wagan Road near the Police Training Centre. Unfortunately it was the property of the department of agriculture and certain limitations were hindering the transfer to the SIUT, said the sources .

The deputy commissioner of Larkana submitted another proposal on July 11, 2025 of five acres of land in Deh Nazar Thariri Tapa Abra situated near the Police Training Centre.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari inaugurated the facility on Nov 4, 2021 with few dialysis machines now operational.

In three shifts, the sources in the SUIT said, around 80 patients were receiving free services. They had otherwise to travel to Karachi or Sukkur.

The sources said Prof Dr Adibul Hassan Rizvi, the founder of SIUT on Aug 9, 2017 visited the site and planted a Neem tree in an event where he announced starting the facility with 25 dialysis machines.

The need of expansion at the SIUT Larkana was felt in the wake of gradual rise in the number of patients and load at the Karachi and Sukkur centres, said the sources.

Lately soil testing was carried out at the site before going ahead with the plan. The designs, maps and everything meant to start the construction of a five-storey building on 35,000 square yards of land had been finalised to establish a state-of- the-art centre in Larkana.

The sources said the five-storey building would be equipped with facilities ranging from OPD to indoor services, kidney transplant, diagnoses etc.

It was learnt that after the fresh budgetary allocations to the tune of Rs4.5 billion for the institute’s expansion, the SIUT managers demanded more land to expand the facility.

The issue of expansion in the SIUT was exhaustively discussed in the pre-budget session held in Larkana when the chief secretary, along with other secretaries, visited the city, said sources close to the issue.

A series of meetings had been held at the SIUT Karachi where the managers had weighed pros and cons of the project with a special focus on financial issues and volume of services, said the sources .

Early signal from the SIUT to kick start the expansion in the existing SUIT Day Care Dialysis Centre, Larkana, would bring hope to the patients suffering from a variety of kidney diseases.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2025