MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development (MHADA) on Thursday offered 100 flats to the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital for housing patients and their relatives.
The flats were given by housing minister Jitendra Awhad.
“On March 19, the MHADA had expressed its desire to provide accommodation to the relatives of the patients undergoing treatment at the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital from a humanitarian point of view," the minister said.
He added, "In just five days, we have delivered about 100 houses for rural patients and their relatives."
"The entire maintenance and distribution responsibility has been given to Tata Cancer Hospital. This time I was reminded of my mother when she was diagnosed with cancer. It is hoped that today's decision will bring relief to patients and their relatives,” Awhad said.
The flats allotted in the first phase are located at the Haji Kasam Chawl redevelopment project in Lalbaug.
Dr Shailesh Shrikhande from Tata Memorial Hospital was present when the announcement was made on Thursday.
Dr Shrikhande said that every day they get requests from 300 patients for accommodation.
Of these, around 60% of patients are unable to get any proper accommodation.
In January 2020, several patients and relatives were moved from under the Hindmata flyover in Parel.
With no affordable accommodation available, all kinds of patients — including women who were operated upon for breast cancer, men who have undergone surgery for oral cancer, beneficiaries of bone marrow transplants and those who are waiting to be operated for cervical cancer — were living under the flyover.
Tata Memorial, one of the largest cancer treatment institutes in India, gets 65,000 new cancer patients every year and another 4,50,000 for follow-ups.
The city currently has five dharamshalas providing accommodation for cancer patients.
Many patients cannot go home since they come from far-off states like Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
There are follow-ups scheduled every week or every fortnight and so they have to stay back in Mumbai.
Travelling home and returning for follow-ups is impossible.
They are so poor that they can’t pay Rs 100 a day a few dharamshalas charge for a room.
And there is a long waiting list for free accommodation, some arranged by the hospital and others by charitable organisations.