Even though nearly one year has already elapsed, the Khulna Divisional Children’s Hospital, built at a cost of Tk 114 crore aimed at ensuring healthcare services for children, has been lying idle.
Due to a lack of coordination among government departments, the hospital has not yet been handed over to the authorities concerned. Even doctors, nurses, and other staff members have not been appointed to the hospital yet, and the authorities cannot say clearly when the hospital will finally go into operation.
According to the Public Works Department (PWD), the hospital construction project was approved in 2017. The hospital was built at Krishnanagar in Batiaghata and Chakmathurabad mouza in Dumuria upazila, opposite to the Mayuri Residential Area under Khulna Development Authority (KDA). In 2019, the district administration acquired 4.8 acres of land at a cost of Tk 52 crore and handed it over to the PWD.
The PWD invited tender in 2020 to construct the first phase of the hospital building, including the basement and ground floor. Construction firm Raiti Enterprise was awarded the work order on 14 May 2020 for Tk 26 crore. The deadline for completing the work was set at 31 October 2021. In the second phase, the revised proposal was approved at a cost of additional Tk 37 crore to extend the hospital from the second to the fifth floor. This phase also included facilities such as a kitchen, power substation, pumphouse, boundary wall, road, drain, and deep tube-well installation.
Neither phase was completed on schedule, with multiple extensions granted. Although the project was officially declared finished in June 2024, the hospital remains inoperative. The five-storey building now lies idle — its RCC entrance road remains intact — but without a boundary wall or main gate on the southern side. As a result, cattle freely roam on the premises, leaving it dirty and unprotected.
Executive Engineer of PWD-1, Kamrul Hasan, said, “Delays in land acquisition and entryway complications disrupted the work. Though the construction work was completed in June 2024, the Civil Surgeon’s office has yet to take charge despite several letters.”
Khulna Civil Surgeon Dr Mahfuza Khatun said, “Although the project is officially implemented, the hospital still has no boundary wall, main gate, furniture, or staff.”
PWD officials said that these works were not included in the original plan. Another project has been proposed at a cost of Tk 98 crore to extend the hospital up to ten storeys and build the remaining infrastructure once approved.
Khulna Nagarik Samaj member secretary Babul Hawlader said, “The people of the south had high hopes for this hospital, as there is no dedicated government hospital for children in the division.”
