Dhangadi, November 7

After a hiatus of almost eight years, construction of Kailali’s Dhangadhi-based Geta Medical College has picked pace this year. The then government in 2010/11 had declared its establishment.

Six buildings, including a hospital building, an academic building, an administrative building and a hostel are under construction now. Of them, 15 per cent work on the academic and hospital buildings is over by now, work on the hostel and administrative buildings have also started.

“After the foundation stone was laid in March, work on the basement of the hospital and academic blocks have finished,” said Medical College Infrastructure Construction Development Committee Geta Executive Director Hemraj Pujara, adding construction has gained pace now following a brief slack during the monsoon season.

“Though the contract for the administration building was signed four years ago, construction work couldn’t start after the contractor cited lack of site,” said Pujara, adding the contract for 15 other buildings would be signed this year itself. The project was long held up given the government’s refusal to allow felling of trees at the construction site.

Following the completion of construction in the first phase, the medical college is expected to run classes and run a 300-bed hospital from 2020. The hospital will be upgraded into a 600-bed facility following completion of the second phase of infrastructure development. The under-construction hospital is expected to put an end to the travel woes of people in the far-west, who have to go to Nepalgunj or Kathmandu for treatment.