Karachi: Fourteen years after construction began on a much-needed trauma center at Lyari General Hospital, the facility remains non-functional, depriving thousands of residents in one of Karachi’s most impoverished areas of emergency medical care.
Launched in 2011 with an initial allocation of Rs500 million, the project envisioned a 25-bed trauma facility to serve emergency cases from Lyari, the Lyari Expressway, and the Hawksbay area. Although the building was completed in 2019 and essential medical equipment — including CT scan, MRI, and X-ray machines — was reportedly procured, the trauma center has never been made operational.
According to Lyari-based social worker and former MPA Syed Abdul Rasheed, while advanced diagnostic machinery was indeed purchased, it was later relocated to Lyari General Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic by the then principal of Lyari Medical College, Dr. Anjum Rehman. He claimed the current whereabouts of the equipment are unknown.
The situation is compounded by the deteriorating condition of Lyari General Hospital itself. The emergency ward is in poor shape, sanitation is severely lacking, and patients often struggle to receive even the most basic treatment.
A recent tragedy starkly underscored the consequences of the inactive trauma center. When a residential building collapsed in Lyari’s Baghdadi area, 27 people lost their lives and 10 others were seriously injured. Despite the trauma center being located just a few streets away, victims had to be transported to the Benazir Bhutto Trauma Center farther across the city, significantly delaying emergency care.
Dr. Khadim Hussain Bukhari, former Medical Superintendent of Lyari General Hospital, said the trauma center was his “brainchild.” He noted that the original design included a rooftop helipad for emergency airlifts — a feature that was never constructed. Expressing deep regret, he said the project, though completed structurally, has never been brought into service.
Former MPA Syed Abdul Rasheed leveled serious allegations against provincial authorities. He claimed that after years of struggle, the project was finally completed in 2019, but the Sindh government has failed to operationalize it. He further alleged corruption and irregularities in construction, stating that the final building was 24 square yards smaller than approved, the lift dimensions were reduced from 6×8 feet to 6×4 feet, and the front elevation was downsized by 64 percent.
He demanded immediate action to make the trauma center functional and called for accountability of those responsible for the prolonged delay and alleged mismanagement. “The people of Lyari have waited long enough. They deserve access to quality emergency care. Had the trauma center been active, lives could have been saved,” he said.
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