MADURAI: After a gap of five years, the construction of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Hospital at Thoppur in Madurai is all set to begin as bhoomi puja was performed at the project site in Thoppur on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for the AIIMS project on January 27, 2019.

The much-awaited healthcare project is set to commence its pre-construction activities from Wednesday, it was learnt. The total duration of the project is set at 33 months from the date of commencement of the construction. Su Venkatesan, Madurai MP, said the AIIMS project construction work in Thoppur seems to be a well-kept secret as there is nobody else there except for a few from the engineering section on the site.

Criticising PM Modi, he told reporters that it is just an election drama since the Lok Sabha polls are scheduled in about a month or two. “Five years ago, when general elections were scheduled in April 2019, PM Modi laid the foundation for this project in January 2019, now he has once again initiated the project before the elections,” he said.