Panvel’s Aapla Dawakhana network will expand from two to seven clinics after the Maharashtra government approved five additional facilities in the Panvel Municipal Corporation area, the civic body said. The new clinics are expected to become operational in the coming days, according to PMC Chief Medical Officer Dr Anand Gosavi.
The expansion is intended to bring free basic healthcare services closer to residents and reduce the need to travel longer distances for routine medical treatment. The move is particularly aimed at improving access for residents from economically weaker sections, according to the report by Mid-Day.
Panvel Municipal Corporation currently operates two Aapla Dawakhana facilities. With the latest approval, five more clinics will be added to the civic body’s primary healthcare network. The PMC has not disclosed the locations of the new facilities in the supplied announcement.
The approval comes as Panvel’s municipal limits face a growing population and rising demand for accessible local healthcare services. The civic body said the proposal had been pursued through repeated follow-up with the state government by MLA Prashant Thakur, Mayor Nitin Patil and Municipal Commissioner Mangesh Chitale.
Aapla Dawakhana clinics are part of Maharashtra’s effort to provide free primary medical services closer to residents’ homes. Their role is to support access to basic treatment without requiring citizens to travel to larger hospitals or incur additional costs for routine healthcare needs.
The five new facilities will add to an existing PMC healthcare network that includes 16 urban primary health centres and nine Arogyavardhini centres. The civic body said the new clinics would strengthen the availability of primary medical services across the municipal area once they become operational.
The expansion also places greater importance on how the additional clinics are integrated with the existing health network. The supplied announcement does not specify the staffing pattern, service timings, patient capacity or medical services planned for each new facility. The immediate milestone is the expected operationalisation of the five clinics in the coming days, as stated by the Panvel civic administration.
