Known as the Bharat Gold Mines Limited Hospital or the BGML Hospital, it has not been for 20 long years. It was founded in 1880 by Dr. TJ O’Donnell and his brother JD O’Donnell, has 800 beds and was the largest hospital in Asia at the beginning of the 20th century.
As the number of Covid-19 cases increased in the Kolar district of Karnataka, MP S Muniswamy decided to use this hospital as a Covid Care Center as it would take a long time to set up a new facility.
He told India Today TV: “After talking to Sangh Parivar and other organizations, we have decided to set up a Covid Care Center with more than 200 beds. Around 250 volunteers from BJP and RSS have worked hard to prepare this. Now the cots and the electricity The job is done and the hospital should be up and running in 2-3 days. “
The interior of the newly designed BGML hospital. (Photo: India Today / Nolan Pinto)
The MP wrote to Union Minister for Coal and Mining Pralhad Joshi allows the district administration to use this huge hospital as a Covid Care Center. Authorities said the BGML hospital has many new features, such as the first in Asia to receive electricity, and also an x-ray machine when the mines were in operation for over 120 years.
Sangh Parivar for help
RSS and BJP volunteers took up the challenge of cleaning up the hospital, which has not been touched in 20 years. So far, they have removed more than 400 tractor loads of rubbish. Praveen S, RSS Karyakarta in KGF who oversees the work, said that their greatest challenge was cleaning the hospital.
Says Praveen, “Day 1 when I walked into this hospital you could see bats flying around. There was 2-3 inches of mud all over the hospital. It was covered in cobwebs. A lot of people were skeptical that we could do this work. But the volunteers from RSS, BJP, VHP, Seva Bharati and Jana Jagaran Samiti have jointly decided that they can do this. We started this work on April 27th and on May 7th all cleaning of this five acre campus was completed. “
The 140-year-old hospital is preparing to treat the patients again. (Photo: India Today / Nolan Pinto)
Work is currently underway to make the facility functional as a hospital as soon as the necessary infrastructure is in place. It was decided to convert four rooms into intensive care units. Now electrification, plumbing and other work are in full swing. They also decided to use the 140 year old iron beds.
“It’s nearly 140 years old and weighs more than 100 kg. It takes at least 3-4 people to lift. The forgings are all ancient techniques and can be used for another century or more,” Praveen told India Today TV, Related on the strength of the iron beds.
Local citizens now want the central government that controls this facility to convert it into a large government hospital on a par with Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru.
Prashant Mehta, a KGF citizen, says, “As a citizen of this land of gold, I thank the MP and the volunteers who have worked hard to prepare this. But I urge the authorities to continue the work to take this hospital itself to make a regular hospital. ” after the pandemic. “
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