Biratnagar. KATHMANDU: Minister for Health and Sanitation, Nisha Mehta, along with Home Minister Sudhan Gurung, inspected the Koshi Hospital on Sunday evening.

During a regular inspection of the hospital on Saturday, Minister Mehta directed to remove the encroached structures inside the hospital premises immediately.

As a continuation of this, she reached the hospital again on Sunday along with the Home Minister and inspected the condition of the encroached structure.

During the discussion held after the inspection, it was decided to remove the illegal structures built on government and public land of the hospital immediately. Home Minister Gurung directed the bodies concerned to evict the encroached structures as per the law and said the local administration and security would be mobilized with the required coordination.

On the occasion, Health Minister Mehta said it was unfortunate that the hospital premises were not vacated even though the 15-day notice issued by the hospital administration on June 19 expired and the hospital premises would be cleared of encroachment within a week.

Stating that protection of the public hospitals’ property was an important basis for health service reform, she stressed that the entire infrastructure of the hospital should be utilized for the service of the patients.

According to the hospital administration, Nepal Red Cross Society, Nepal Tuberculosis Relief Society, Ganesh Temple Committee and Devkota Library have been constructing permanent structures on the land owned by Koshi Hospital.

Earlier on Saturday, Minister Mehta inspected the Koshi Hospital and held preliminary discussions on the establishment of a specialized eye hospital on the hospital premises.

She also inspected the emergency ward, laboratory, pharmacy and under-construction structures and directed the hospital administration to carry out sanitation, infrastructure management, timely completion of construction work and remove encroached structures.