Delhi govt asks railways to provide Covid-care coaches at 2 stations

Stressing that the facilities at government and private hospitals available in Delhi are getting strained and there is an urgent need for more Covid-19 bed facilities, Delhi chief secretary requested bed facilities for the patients at railway stations.

The Delhi government wrote to the Indian Railways on Sunday requesting its support to arrange for bed facilities for the patients at Anand Vihar and Shakur Basti stations to tackle the massive surge of Covid-19 cases in the national capital.

The Covid-19 isolation coaches deployed by the government last year. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT File Photo )

Delhi chief secretary Vijay Kumar Dev informed railway board chairman Suneet Sharma about the tremendous increase of Covid-19 cases in Delhi in the recent past resulting in a high number of serious Covid cases requiring treatment in hospitals.

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Stressing that the facilities at government and private hospitals available in Delhi are getting strained and there is an urgent need for more Covid-19 bed facilities, Dev wrote, “I, therefore, request you to kindly arrange Covid bed facilities at Anand Vihar and Shakur Basti Railway Stations with full logistical support, requisite medical and para-medical staff and oxygen facilities etc. on an emergent basis.”

The appeal comes at a time when chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an increased supply of oxygen and beds for Covid-19 patients in the Capital as the positivity rate has gone up to 30%

“The Covid-19 situation in Delhi is extremely serious. There is a severe shortage of Covid-19 beds and oxygen supply. At our level, we are doing everything that is possible. We need your help. Central government hospitals in Delhi collectively have around 10,000 beds, of which 1,800 are reserved for Covid-19. In the light of the severity of the situation, I appeal to you to reserve at least 7,000 beds for Covid-19 patients. There is a severe shortage of oxygen supply too. Please arrange oxygen for Delhi,” he said in the letter.

Delhi chief secretary also made similar requests to the railway department saying, “We would be grateful if you identify more such facilities upto a level of 5000 beds, as was done last year, so as to meet the huge demand of beds arising out of an ever increasing surge in positive cases this time in NCT of Delhi.”

The demand for railway isolation coaches, which were deployed last year, is growing elsewhere in the country as well. The railways’ western zone has received a demand from Nandurbar, a Maharashtra district close to Gujarat border, for around 95 coaches and 1,500 beds. “Each Covid-19 care rake will have 20 coaches, comprising modified Sleeper and General coaches; each coach can accommodate 16 patients.The coaches will be suitably positioned as mutually agreed upon between the district administration of Nandurbar and divisional administration of Mumbai division of Western Railways,” a memorandum of understanding signed between Western Railways and the district authorities on April 11 noted.