Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has inaugurated the newly built Cantonment General Hospital at Bollarum.

Established in 1933 and maintained by the Cantonment Board, Secunderabad, it used to serve the medical needs of the Secunderabad Cantonment Area and patients from the surrounding municipalities and villages. The hospital, proposed to be named after Sardar Vallabhai Patel, was previously known as the Cantonment Infectious Diseases Hospital.

Addressing the gathering, the Defence Minister lauded the Cantonment Board officials for constructing a quality hospital equipped with solar power.

Talking about issues such as the closure of roads, the Defence Minister said he shared the concerns of both the military and civilians. But at the same time he highlighted the issue of security threat with examples of the Pathankot and Gurdaspur terror attacks which were executed by a few people.

The Defence Minister expressed interest in assessing the ground situation by visiting the place and interacting with representatives of civil society. He stressed on solving the problem in a give and take approach by holding discussions with the army, MoD and the state government and assured it would be resolved in a limited time frame.

The old hospital building was demolished in 2006 and five dispensaries were being run in its place before the construction of the new building. The Cantonment Board has taken up the work in a phased manner and has constructed a 30-bed hospital in the first phase at an expenditure of Rs 5.2 crore on a 3.56-acre site. It would be subsequently upgraded to a 100-bed hospital, according to a statement.

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