Coronavirus: 20,000 modified train coaches to accommodate 3 lakh beds for isolation, says Indian Railways
Five Zonal Railways have already prepared prototypes for such quarantine/isolation coaches.
The Indian Railways has said that its isolation prototypes can accommodate over 3 lakh beds for coronavirus patients.
The ministry has stepped up efforts in creating prototypes of train coaches that can be converted into isolation wards for Covid-19 patients.
As many as 20,000 coaches would be modified which can accommodate over 3 lakh beds for isolation purposes, the ministry said.
Five Zonal Railways have already prepared prototypes for such quarantine/isolation coaches.
Meanwhile, the North-Western Railways (NWR) has planned to convert 266 train coaches as isolation facility for coronavirus patients.
The decision was taken by the Railway Board, NWR PRO Abhay Sharma said on Tuesday.
During last week’s routine cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, various ministries discussed ways of using state-owned facilities and production units for boosting manufacture and supply of medical equipment and setting up quarantine facilities in the country.
Indian Railways has already begun work on using locomotive production units to manufacture ventilators and other medical equipment.
“There is a plan to use vast pool of non-AC coaches for setting up isolation wards and about 20,000 such coaches had been identified for the same. Railways has also begun production of masks, sanitisers and other supplies,” a railway ministry official said.
Indian Railways has also been tasked with using its large manufacturing and locomotive production units and workshops for manufacturing essential medical equipment such as ventilators, hospital beds, and stretchers, among others, on a war-footing.
The national carrier has issued directions to production units - the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai and Diesel Loco Works in Varanasi - among others. The Railway Board has asked production units and workshops to assess the feasibility to manufacture these items in large quantities, as may be required, at a short notice.
On Sunday, the ministry said it will make all its hospitals available to serve central government employees in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown.
“Indian Railways is committed to discharging its professional as well as social responsibilities. At this difficult time, every Railway hospitals will be available to serve any central government employee,” the tweet read.
