3 Covid jumbo centres in Mumbai to remain shut for 10 days for repair works

The jumbo centres at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), Dahisar and Mulund will remain closed for the next 10 days owing to the repair and maintenance work

The jumbo centres at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), Dahisar and Mulund will remain closed for the next 10 days owing to the repair and maintenance work.

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City’s guardian minister Aaditya Thackeray, after meeting BMC officials on Monday, tweeted, “Our 3 jumbo covid care centres that have been vacated as precautions, will now be taken up for maintenance and repairs over the next 10 days.”

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had shifted more than 500 patients over Saturday night and Sunday from the three jumbo centres as a precautionary measure following the cyclone alert for Monday. According to BMC officials, as the patients were already shifted to nearby hospitals, they will now look at the repair and maintenance work required to keep the jumbo centres stable for the upcoming monsoon and also the third wave.

BMC officials said that there was no damage to any of its jumbo centres but it would like to undertake several maintenance works as a precautionary measure.

Dr Deepa Shriyan, dean, Dahisar jumbo Covid centre, said, “We now have the time and chance as the patients have already been shifted and the daily caseload has gone down in the city. We will carry out necessary structural work and conduct a fire audit as a precaution. The jumbo centres were made for a temporary period but now that we know that this [pandemic situation] will continue for the next one year, we need to be better prepared and planned. We still have to face the monsoons and third wave during which these jumbo centres will play a crucial role in handling Covid-19 patients.”

The three jumbo centres have more than 3,000 beds. Overall, the city has six jumbo centres with a total capacity of around 9,000 beds. Three more jumbo centres are coming up in the city amid fears of a third wave between July and September.

Additional municipal commissioner P Velrasu said, “On Monday also, our focus was at the jumbo centres and we ensured that there was no waterlogging outside any of them. Now, as the three jumbo centres will remain closed for the next few days, we will ensure that the routine storm water works ahead of monsoon is completed on a timely basis.”