Once known for its bird sanctuary and the industrial area, Okhla in South-East Delhi has grown into a bustling suburb adjacent to Faridabad in Haryana and the UP border. The area saw rapid expansion and development in the early 1990s with a large number of educated and middle-class Muslims in Delhi settling in the area. Areas like Zakir Nagar, Batla House, Joga Bai, Ghaffar Manzil, Noor Nagar, Johri Farm, Abul Fazal Enclave and later Shaheen Bagh saw a massive surge of population, which is estimated to be around a million now. Over the next 10 years, the healthcare needs of the population grew and the need for a government hospital was felt. “There are a few big private hospitals nearby like Apollo, Holy Family and Escorts apart from a number of smaller ones. But these are expensive and only well-off people can afford to go there,” says Mohd Tayeb, a retired teacher who has been living in Abul Fazal since 1990. The nearest big government hospitals that can attend to all types of serious healthcare and emergency needs as well as accident cases are Safdarjung Hospital and AIIMS, both 10 kms away. On paper the distance does not look much, but given the traffic situation in the area, it doesn’t take less than an hour to reach any of these hospitals. “Around one hour if you are lucky and if it is not during peak hours. Otherwise during rush hours,it may take even two hours to get there,” claims advocate Musharraf Ali who lives in Shaheen Bagh.
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