Mumbai, the Indian city most affected by Covid19, has allocated Rs 6,933.75 crore for healthcare – a 15.9% of its total budget for the 2022-23.

The BrihanMubai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday presented a budget of Rs 45,949.21 crore, a 17.70% increase over last year’s budget of Rs 39,612.77 crore.

A hundred ‘At Your Neighbourhood Health Care Centres’ will be set up at a cost of Rs 400 crore under the ‘Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Health Centre’ initiative within the BMC area in 2022-23.

In the first phase, these preventive and primary health centres (maternity/home/dispensaries /polyclinics) will provide various types of diagnostic tests at nominal rates and consultations by specialist and super-specialist doctors from KEM, Sion, Nair and Cooper Hospitals via telemedicine. As many as 139 different types of tests and diagnostic tests like X-Ray, CT Scan, mammography at nominal rates will be provided for which BMC will invite tenders for private participation. Examination and checkups for diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and heart disease will also be done. The centres will also have medical stores.

In the second phase of the initiative, 100 additional health centres will be set up.  

For creating awareness on physical and mental health, 200 Shiv Yog centres will be set up in public halls, BMC public and private school halls, marriage halls and any place where 30 people form a group and show willingness for Yoga centres for which Rs 30 crore has been set aside. The BMC will provide all required equipment, TV sets etc, at such places. Yoga experts will provide online training at these centres. These Yoga instructors will be appointed by a panel of instructors who will keep an eye on these centres.

Rs 257.50 crore will be spent on upgradation of dispensaries and Rs 35.38 crore for upgrading of maternity homes in 2022-23.  Two new maternity homes will be commissioned in Rawalpada in R/North  ward and Shivaji Nagar in M/East ward.   

To index scanned data of A-Grade records of Birth and Death reports from the year 1880, BMC will index 50,000 records/reports in a pilot project for which it will spend Rs 5.50 crore.

For the upgradation of cemeteries, Rs 86.79 crore will be spent. The BMC will provide briquettes to reduce environmental pollution. Rs 5 crore will be spent on beautification and upkeep of cemeteries
For differently-abled and special children an early intervention centre will be set up at Nagpada in Byculla for which Rs 14 crore has been provided. The first of its kind facility in the country will be constructed on approximately 36,000 sq ft consisting of two wings of ground plus five floors. Specialist services and therapies in Pediatric Evaluation Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Audiology, Speech and Language Therapy, Psychiatric Evaluation, Counselling and Remedial Education, Orthopedics ENT, Opthalmology and Paediatric Dentistry will be available for children besides Gait Analysis, Aqua Therapy, and telemedicine.  

The Centre will be inaugurated on May 1, 2022.

For the Insecticide Department, Rs 35 crore has been set aside in 2022-23 for Mosquito Breeding Detector(MBD) to prevent Dengue, Malaria and Leptospirosis. At present, at prominent inaccessible places, drones are being used and the BMC has proposed to increase the number of drones for the same.

Further Rs 250 crore has been set aside for redevelopment of the 490-bed Bhagwati Hospital, Rs 165 crore for redevelopment of Sion Hospital including the construction of Nursing College, staff quarters and hostel for medical students. Rs 15 crore is allocated for construction of a cancer hospital for Proton Therapy at KEM Hospital, Rs 300 crore for expansion/redevelopment of 470-bed MT Agarwal Hospital Rs 62.95 crore for the extension to Nair Dental College, Rs 175 crore for construction of Centenary Hospital at Govandi and Rs 12.40 crore for construction of Tata Compound Hostel building.

Rs 140 crore is proposed for expansion of KB Bhabha Hospital, Rs 50 crore for upgradation of Plasma Centre in KEM Hospital, Rs 116 crore for construction of Medical College building at RN Cooper hospital, Rs 60 crore for construction of hostel for medical students of KEM at Acworth Leprosy Hospital, Rs 40 crore for construction of Centenary Hospital at Kandivali West, Rs 25 crore for super-speciality BMC hospital at Bhandup, S Ward, Rs 15 crore towards repairs and reconstruction of Oshiwara Maternity Home, Rs 21 crore for development of hospital in Sangharsh Nagar, Chandivali L Ward and Rs 17 crore for the redevelopment of Siddharth /Murli Deora Eye Hospital in Kamathipura.