Kathmandu, May 29

Visitors and patients of National Trauma Centre and Bir Hospital are facing difficulties parking vehicles as these government hospitals lack parking spaces.

Security guards standing at the entrance of Trauma Centre ‘instruct’ hospital visitors to park their vehicles in open spaces in Khulamanch.

Bir hospital has deployed a security guard to protect vehicles of its employees and the visitors in Khulamanch.

The hospital claimed it had signed an agreement with Kathmandu Metropolitan City to use the open space of Khulamanch.

“We have an agreement with KMC for parking vehicles,” said Kedar Prasad Century, director at the hospital.

KMC, however, denies that such an agreement has been reached with the hospital. “We have given permission to the hospital to store its construction materials as the hospital building is being reconstructed.

The permission to use the open space of Khulamanch was given on humanitarian grounds,” said Ishwor Man Dangol, KMC spokesperson.

As the hospital lacks parking space, employees have been using the parking space of National Trauma Centre. The parking space is not enough to accommodate vehicles of visitors.

“As Bir hospital has no parking spaces of its own, the parking lot of trauma centre is used by Bir hospital employees. This has reduced parking space for visitors’ vehicles. That is why the public are not allowed to park their vehicles in our parking space,” said Gunaraj Bhattarai, section officer at Trauma Centre. He added that patients had to park at Khulamanch.

Bir hospital has around 2,000 employees and its visitors’ flow is also high.

“The problem with parking will be solved after the construction of the new building is completed,” assured Century.