SRINAGAR, May 17: A “floating hospital” has been launched in Kashmir’s Dal lake by State Health Department aiming to bring health care to nearly 40,000 people accessible only by water and the areas where there are no hospitals and few medical facilities.
The hospital will provide quick medical assistance to visitors staying in houseboats and hotels in the lake. The lake, ringed by lofty snow-caped mountains, is main attraction of Kashmir’s tourist industry.
“For the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, the State Health Department has launched medical mobile unit for the Dal dwellers,” an official statement said.
The” floating hospital” named as Rashtriya Medical Mobile Unit (RMMU), was launched by the Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Sham Lal Sharma at the historic Nehru Park here.
The hospital in shikaras, equipped with medicines and other diagnostic equipment, three doctors and para-medics, willcater to the medical requirements of 28 floating hamlets of the lake and hundreds of visitors.
“Basic health requirement is the fundamental right of every citizen and Dal dwellers will also be provided this facility at their doorsteps,” Sharma said.
The floating hospital will initially operate twice in a week
