ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has been asked about details related to floor area ratio (FAR) and other requirements regarding the building plan for the Federal Government Polyclinic expansion project.
The 300-bed project announced by former health minister Abdul Qadir Patel in August 2023 will cost Rs9.9 billion and take three years to complete in G-11/3. In a letter on Feb 9, the health ministry asked the CDA to provide details about the FAR and setbacks required for the approval of the building plans. The Infrastructure Development Authority of Punjab (IDAP) intends to prepare the Polyclinic building plan in light of the CDA response.
Infrastructure Development Authority of Punjab (IDAP), the Government of Punjab is implementing the subject project [300-bed extension of Polyclinic], and intends to get building plans approval from CDA.
In this regard, the following /information is required to streamline the parameters set by the CDA. 1) Floor Area Ratio (FAR) and setbacks for the building plan approval,” read the ministry’s letter.
The ministry requested the CDA to provide the said details to the project director to complete the project on time. According to an officer of the CDA, the civic agency was in the process of providing the said details to the health ministry
Health ministry seeks civic agency’s input on building plan for 300-bed hospital in G-11
He said that the CDA would approve the building plan on a priority basis as this project was the need of the hour for the city. “Whenever they will submit the set of complete documents, we will approve their building plans on a priority basis,” he said.
In August 2023, Mr Patel laid the foundation stone of the 300-bed extension of the Polyclinic in Sector G-11.
“Population of the federal capital has been continuously increasing due to which burden on hospitals is also increasing. Moreover, many patients from different provinces visit hospitals in the federal capital. So it has become imperative to build a new hospital in the city. The extension of Polyclinic, which will be called Polyclinic II, will be built in G-11/3. It is a matter of immense pleasure that I have arranged resources for the 300-bed hospital,” the minister had said at the said ceremony.
The minister reportedly had also said that a large number of people from Punjab, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan would also benefit from the facility, adding around 6,000 patients visited the outpatient department (OPD) of Polyclinic daily, therefore, its extension was imperative.
In November, caretaker health minister Dr Nadeem Jan visited the project site and directed the authorities concerned to complete this project in two years instead of its scheduled time of three years.
Once completed, this 300-bed hospital would provide facilities for diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, maternity care, allergies, bone and joint problems, chest and heart diseases and skin issues.
It is relevant to note here that the public sector hospitals of Islamabad, mainly the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Polyclinic, and the National Institute of Health (NIH), are overcrowded.
During the last few decades, the population of Islamabad saw a significant increase, but health facilities could not keep up the pace with the rapid population growth, putting immense strain on already existing hospitals.
