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| Geographical
Location and Layout of NIOH |
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The National
Institute for the Orthopaedically Handicapped is located in a
sprawling 20- odd acres estate on the Barrackpore Trunk Road (B.T. Road)
in the Baranagore suburb of Greater Calcutta,
State of West Bengal, in the country of India.. The sub-urb is called Bon-Hooghly,
which is close to the landmark Dunlop Bridge and also the famous
Kali temple of Dakshineshwar.
Click
Here for a video on Dakshineshwar,
courtesy of CalOnline.
Direction
The ISI campus lies five kilometers North of
the Shyambazar five-point crossing. If you are coming from the airport,
drive towards Dunlop Bridge (via Nager Bazar and Chiria More). If you are
coming from the downtown area or one of the railway stations, you will
have to drive past Shyambazar and Chiria More. As you approach Dunlop
Bridge, the boundary wall of the ISI campus will be visible on your left.
The residential campus is at the Bus Stop called Bon Hooghly and the
office campus is at the Bus Stop called ISI or Statistical. The Bus Stop
further to the Statistical Bus Stop is Dunlop Bridge, which is an
important landmark. Dunlop Bridge is also a useful way of describing the
general destination when you are asking for directions.
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Taxi
If
you are coming from the airport or one of
the railway stations, it is better to hire a taxi from the prepaid taxi
booth. The prepaid taxi fare is marginally higher than normal, but it is a
surer and safer mode of transport. While hiring a prepaid taxi, mention
Dunlop Bridge as your destination.
Most of the taxis in Calcutta bear manual
fare meters that are outdated. At present, the actual fare is double of
the amount shown in these meters. The taxi driver is supposed to carry a
conversion chart with the validation date clearly marked on it. Some taxis
have electronic meters which show the actual fare.
Buses
There are a large number of buses and
minibuses that pass by the Institute campus. Almost any bus that goes to
Dunlop Bridge passes by the ISI gates. The buses that pass by the ISI
gates are 11, 32A, 34B/1, 78, 78/1, 78A, 78B, 78C, 201, 214, 230, 234,
DN9, DN9/1, L9A, L11, L20, L20A, M1, M2, M6, S9, S11, S32 and SS4. The
minibuses plying from Howrah to Nimta/Belgharia/Rathtala, from BBD Bag to
DunlopBridge, from Babughat to Sodepur/New Barrackpore and from Metiaburuj
to Srirampur go past the ISI gates before reaching Dunlop Bridge. While
riding the bus from the city, the major bus stops on your way (from South
to North) would be Shyambazar, Chiria More, Sinthi More and Tobin Road.
The Bon Hooghly Bus Stop is just North of the Bus Stop at Ananya Cinema.
This is where you have to get down in order to enter the residential
campus. The next Bus Stop is ISI/Statistical.
Climate
Calcutta is warm and humid most of the year
around. However, the winter months, say, from November to February are
cool, sunny, dry and very pleasant. Monsoon hits Calcutta generally in the
second week of June and lasts till the end of September. During this
period it rains regularly. The total rainfall during the season is about
20 cm. The temperature in summer goes up to about 37 Celsius and the
relative humidity up to 100%. During winter months the temperature ranges
from about 10 to 20 Celsius and the relative humidity is around 50%. Light
woolen clothing is necessary during winter in Calcutta.
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NIOH is a small community within
itself. There is the main building which is home to the management on
the second level. The first level or the ground floor has the various
patient services, including patient registration, the medical outdoor and
the pathology laboratory, the departments of Physiotherapy, Occupational
Therapy and Speech, Language and Hearing, and finally the Prosthetics
and Orthotics Engineering workshop. The ground/first floor also has the
(deplorable and sub-standard) staff cafeteria.
The offices of the Artificial Limb Manufacturing Corporation or ALIMCO® is also on the first level.
Alimco® is a Govt. of India
undertaking, which currently is probably the largest manufacturer and
distributor of aids, appliances, orthotics and prosthetics for the
handicapped, in the entire South-East Asia region.
Behind the main residential building the
Institute has been
constructing new buildings which will eventually house several other
projects and also the regional centers of the other National Institutes:
one each in the fields of hearing, mentally and visually handicapped..
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Elsewhere, within the campus,
the institute has residences for its own staff and also an extensive
hostel system for the students of the various professional courses
run by the Institute which is now a clinical affiliate to The
University of Calcutta.
For detailed information on the
institute's activities and services, please explore this web in its
entirety.
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So came about this
apex organization which today serves a staggering number of patients per unit of time !
As an example, one of the
busiest departments of the institute, the Department of Physiotherapy
attends to between one and three hundred patients a day ! All this
and more at what price ? Not too much; actually quite reasonably this
medical care is all free.
Yes you heard it right. Free ! So can you
go out and splurge? Well not quite. There is in the fine print of
course. |
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1999. The " National Institute for the
Orthopaedically Handicapped "
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