14 April,2021 10:04 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
Railways’ COVID care coaches. Pics/Rajendra B. Aklekar
Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, the authorities from Nandurbar district in Maharashtra placed a requisition for railways' COVID care coaches after facing shortage of hospital beds.
Following the request, the Western Railways dispatched a 21-coach train as a make-shift hospital. There are 16 beds in one coach.
Confirming the development to mid-day, Western Railways (WR) chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur said a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Nandurbar's rail coach-hospital had been signed by the district authorities, which clearly specifies the roles of WR and local administration.
He said there are 386 isolation coaches available with the Western Railways, of which 128 coaches are in the Mumbai division.
Sources said the situation in Nandurbar is grim as all 950 beds in the district are full with COVID-19 patients. This includes normal, oxygen and ventilator beds in government and private hospitals. Even isolation beds were 70 per cent occupied on Sunday. The district has got close to 6,500 active cases.
One of the major problems faced by the local administration is that the temperature is 40-45 degrees Celsius in the district and as per the national protocol, drawn up at the empowered committee meeting, the railways can only send non-AC coaches.
Source said the issue of AC vs non-AC coaches was discussed with NITI Aayog and Union Health Ministry before converting coaches for COVID-19 patients. It was agreed that AC coaches would not be suitable in view of the potential transmission risk of the virus through AC ducts, and generally a higher ambient temperature was expected to assist in fighting the virus and cross circulation of air through open windows will benefit patients.
Thakur said we have decided to arrange khas on the rooftop along with coolers for all the coaches. This will help reduce the heat. Khas is a scented grass used in room coolers.
