Renowned actor Sayaji Shinde on Friday opposed the cutting of 158 trees for the construction of a hostel in the premises of the civic-run Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, popularly known as Sion Hospital.Releasing a Twitter video for the hospital management, Shinde asked how a health facility that saves lives can allow "158 deaths", adding that the numbering of trees had begun and two had already been cut.
"I expect the hospital to reverse its decision to cut down trees for the new hostel. It is going to be like a bombshell on these trees. The world of birds and animals on these trees will be destroyed," he said, and asked if there was no other way for the hostel to be built. When contacted, a Sion hospital official confirmed the plan to cut trees, but added that it was a necessity for the future expansion of the hospital from a 1200-bed facility to a 3000-bed one in two phases.
The hospital's Infrastructure Cell has taken formal permission from the Tree Authority for the work, an official who did not wish to be named said. The hospital also said cutting trees was a painful decision and efforts were on to save maximum of these by way of scientifically replanting them elsewhere. At present, the hospital's hostel has 196 rooms and the number of students there was over 200, while arrangements have been made for over 1,000 resident doctors in MHADA buildings nearby, an official said.
As part of the expansion plan, a 20-storey structure will come up, he said, adding that it was essential to demolish the existing hostel and some other staff quarters before starting work.
(With PTI inputs)
