An underground tunnel connecting the main campus of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) with its Trauma Centre is likely to become operational by the end of this month. This will reduce the time taken to transfer patients between these two places from around 35-40 minutes to 15-25 minutes. Dr Amit Gupta, AIIMS spokesperson, said: “The final round of technical inspection has been completed and by the end of this month, the tunnel is likely to be operational. Once operational, the tunnel would reduce the travel time to around 15-25 minutes, thus ensuring the quick transfer of patients in a critical condition from the AIIMS main building to the Trauma Centre. The tunnel will be used by doctors, ambulances and family members of patients.”
At present, ambulances have to take the jam-packed Ring Road during peak hours to transfer critically ill patients from the Trauma Centre to AIIMS, or vice versa.
“Traffic congestion on Ring Road outside AIIMS makes it difficult for ambulances to take critically ill patients and doctors to the Trauma Centre. The opening of the tunnel will save enough time in a situations of emergency as medical assistance can be rushed immediately to save a person’s life,” Dr Gupta said.
The newly built 614-metre-long tunnel costing Rs 40 crore has been built by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
A senior DMRC official said that the tunnel is an example of engineering excellence as, for the first time in Indian civil engineering history, any road tunnel has been constructed above the operational Metro tunnel, with a minimum clearance of just 1.6 metres. The height of the tunnel is 4.2 metres and the carriageway is 7 metres wide, excluding a footpath of 1.5 metres.
The Trauma Centre is located on the Ring Road between Safdarjung Hospital and Bhikaji Cama Place, away from the main AIIMS campus. The center was built to provide better care to accident patients.