Only 124 quarantine beds left in worst hit E ward, BMC informs high court

The civic body said in an affidavit filed in the high court on Monday that it has quarantine facilities only at four places in E ward, which is densely populated and comprises British era buildings with common passages and common toilets.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has informed Bombay high court that it has only 124 unoccupied quarantine beds in its worst hit E ward, which has recorded 3,085 Covid-19 cases so far.

E ward includes areas such as Byculla, Chinchpokli, Mumbai Central, Reay Road and Dockyard Road. (HT photo)

E ward includes areas such as Byculla, Chinchpokli, Mumbai Central, Reay Road and Dockyard Road.

The civic body said in an affidavit filed in the high court on Monday that it has quarantine facilities only at four places in E ward, which is densely populated and comprises British era buildings with common passages and common toilets. Therefore, BMC has very limited choices when it comes to setting up quarantine facilities. The total capacity of the four facilities is 1,223 beds.

The affidavit was filed in response to a petition filed by a developer, Neelkamal Realtors, who complained about BMC’s decision to take over a building constructed by the developer as part of a rehabilitation project at Byculla.

The affidavit said BMC has converted 234 flats in the building into a quarantine facility with a capacity of 1,000 beds. Of these, 940 are currently occupied. The civic body informed the developer that rent at the rate of Rs25 lakh a month will be paid for using the building as a quarantine facility.

It added BMC has been carrying out aggressive tracing of people who have been in contact with Covid-19 patients and proposes to increase the contact tracing ratio from the current 1:10 to 1:15 in densely populated areas.

BMC filed the affidavit after receiving a sharp rap from the bench of justices SJ Kathawalla and Surendra Tavade for requisitioning buildings that are part of rehabilitation projects to set up isolation or quarantine facilities.

The bench had on June 7 directed the civic body to file an affidavit giving details of the buildings requisitioned for setting up isolation or quarantine facilities, the number of beds in these facilities and the number of suspected Covid-19 contacts housed at the facilities.