Delhi now has Mohalla Clinics from upcycled shipping containers

Delhi-based architecture firm Architecture Discipline has used upcycled shipping containers to create Mohalla Clinics, providing a compact, portable, and sleek primary healthcare solution for neighbourhoods in Delhi. In the first phase of deployment, two clinics will be inaugurated in two urban settlements: Shakur Basti and Rani Bagh.

The clinics are set up with the support of Tata Power-DDL for the Delhi government’s Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics programme.

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Built from shipping containers salvaged from various container yards in Delhi and Haryana, two 20-foot-long containers are joined together to form a single clinic that includes an examination room, a reception and waiting area, a pharmacy accessible from outside, and a washroom. It is fully equipped to support routine health checks, testing, and medicine purchasing.

The clinics are prefabricated and come preinstalled with electrical and lighting fixtures, essential interior finishes, and furniture. Their compact size allows them to be easily transported to various locations and be installed with minimal on-site construction.

The interiors are oriented towards creating a hygienic and optimistic patient environment, with air-conditioning and insulated walls that protect visitors from Delhi’s searing heat. Interior finishes such as the anti-microbial vinyl flooring and medical-grade stainless steel countertops are designed to be easy to maintain.

The Mohalla Clinics aspire to provide an affordable, space-efficient, and high-quality model of healthcare to all neighbourhoods in Delhi, especially in dense residential clusters that are hard-pressed for space and have limited access to premium healthcare facilities.

Akshat Bhatt, the Principal architect of Architecture Discipline, said, “The clinic’s design capitalizes on the structural strength of a discarded shipping container and works with it as a module, reducing the need for costly modifications or custom-built additions. In this manner, it redefines post-industrial waste as a medium for universal affordable healthcare.”

“By taking something forgotten and giving it a new lease of life, the Mohalla Clinics present a sustainable solution for the health infrastructure crisis in our country.”

Satyendar Jain, Minister of Health for the Delhi government, tweeted, “We promised to give a quality healthcare system to Delhiites, and when we say ‘quality healthcare’, this is what we mean by it. Such clinics are easy to set up and transport in cluster areas like jhuggi-bastis and narrow streets where healthcare infrastructure is less accessible.”