Chandigarh, Aug. 9 -- After skipping many deadlines, the 283-bed emergency-cum-trauma centre at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, to finally start operating on Saturday. Built at a cost of Rs.52.77 crore, the trauma centre will be a second centre in Chandigarh after Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) to offer critical care to patients requiring immediate care.

While inaugurating the centre, Punjab governor and UT administrator, Gulab Chand Kataria, called the facility a need of the hour considering the increasing number of patients at the hospital's emergency. Kataria said the government had given the required budget to the project on priority basis. However, he said, it took some t...