Mumbai: Locked Rooms, Missing Doctors; Inside Bandra's Bhabha Hospital’s Hollow Dream Tower

The 11-storey tower at Bhabha Hospital in Bandra was meant to be a beacon of hope for Mumbai’s patients. Rising high above the neighbourhood, its fresh façade and imposing height give the impression of progress — a symbol of the city’s commitment to better healthcare.

Yet, for those who walk through its doors, the reality is far from what was promised. Inside, wards lie unused, doors are bolted, and services are missing. Families arrive in desperation, expecting the relief of a well-equipped facility, only to be met with silence and locked corridors.

For patients, the experience is devastating. Mothers carrying sick children climb floor after floor, only to find no staff inside. Elderly patients, who should have been met with care and dignity, are instead made to wait endlessly or are redirected elsewhere. Every locked room feels like a broken promise, one that chips away at the fragile hope with which they entered.

The tower, envisioned as a solution to the city’s healthcare burden, has instead become a symbol of neglect. Its grand structure stands in stark contrast to the emptiness within. Patients are left stranded, wandering through a space that looks like a hospital but functions like an abandoned shell.

For many, the disappointment cuts deep. They arrive here in their most vulnerable moments, in pain, in fear, in need of reassurance. But what greets them is not the comfort of modern medical care, but the frustration of systems that do not work, rooms that remain locked, and doctors who are absent.

Bhabha’s “dream tower” may stand tall against the Mumbai skyline, but inside, it tells a harsher story: one of promises built high, and hopes left empty.