Parking woes in Trichy MGMGH hampers operations

Trichy: Inadequate parking at Trichy's largest govt hospital, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH), is causing difficulties for visitors, with many vehicles occupying ‘no parking' zones and obstructing ambulance movement. While the hospital provides a free parking area for two-wheelers, visitors say it falls short of demand. Furthermore, autorickshaws parked near the under-construction specialty block are blocking pathways, adding to the inconvenience.

"We are asking the visitors not to park their vehicles in the no-parking area, but nobody is listening to us. There is a free token parking space for two-wheelers here; nearly 300 two-wheelers can be parked there. As it has CCTV cameras, it's safe to park there. The place where this new building is coming up is where people used to park their two-wheelers earlier, but after the construction works began, people started to park their vehicles randomly," said a security guard working at MGMGH Hospital.

"The entire parking space is full. I can't park my bike outside as the police personnel will slap a fine, so I'm parking in the no-parking zone inside the hospital premises," Sulieman, a visitor from Palakkarai, said.

Two-wheelers can be seen parked surrounding the entire building. The hospital houses 1,842 inpatients and more than 3,000 outpatients, so attenders visit the hospital on a daily basis, but they are finding it difficult to have a hassle-free walk inside the premises.

Speaking to TOI, dean S Kumaravel said, "We are seeking police help to seize the vehicles parked in ‘no parking areas' inside the hospital premises. As construction is underway here for a new specialty block in MGMGH, nearly 200 workers involved in the construction activities are staying in temporary shelters inside the premises, so it's difficult for us to find more space for parking. Once the construction activity is over by the end of May 2025, everything will fall into place."

Apart from this, duty doctors also don't have a dedicated space to park their cars inside the premises.

"We are receiving bike theft complaints from attenders coming to MGMGH very often. Even though we have kept warning boards, people are not taking it seriously. If we try to seize their vehicles, it often ends up in a fight between the police personnel and the attenders visiting the hospital," a police official at Trichy GH station, told TOI.

Meanwhile, poor road safety infrastructure to cross the congested EVR Main Road for reaching the MGMGH campus, with no traffic signals in place opposite the hospital, adds to the woes.