Price & Myers is designing a flood mitigation strategy for the Leprosy Mission Hospital in Muzaffarpur, India. The proposal includes a site-wide flood risk assessment and drainage design to address existing issues, and to provide recommendations for the proposed Outpatient Department building on the site.
The hospital is a crucial community asset that serves not just leprosy patients but the broader health needs of the local population. The site has historically suffered from flooding that is becoming ever more regular. Ad-hoc dwellings have been erected around the perimeter for the hospital, exacerbating the risk. Monsoonal downpours subject the hospital to regular flooding, but in August 2021 more extreme flooding inundated staff housing as well as clinical buildings. Our engineers have studied historical flood data from across the site to inform their proposal.
The recent upgrade of an adjacent road has also exacerbated flood risk. The road is higher than the ground plain in the hospital, and the municipal drain built to prevent inundation does not work effectively. In times of heavy downpour, it discharges water into the hospital, rather than away from it.
The Stage Two flood and drainage design will be completed by January 2024 with construction on the new Outpatients Department due to commence by December 2024.
Price & Myers is working on a pro-bono basis with The Leprosy Mission Trust India (TLMTI), and Article 25 - a charity that works on community buildings in the Global South.
