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People come forward to help PMC to strengthen medical infrastructure
Pune mayor Murlidhar Mohol and municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad had recently appealed to citizens and housing societies to help them strengthen hospitals.
Pune mayor Murlidhar Mohol and municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad had recently appealed to citizens and housing societies to help them strengthen hospitals. Mohol said, “After Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) appeal, many people came forward to help us and inquired what type of help they would be able to provide.”
Mohal said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Chandrakant Patil donated 10,000 disposable masks for employees working in the health department. Architect Sandeep Mahajan has given 10 wheelchairs and developer Nitin Deshpande has donated 50 nebulisers.
Principal Sai services located at Magarpatta, Hadapsar, donate 43,700 masks. Municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad accepted this help from the citizens.
PMC said that some people are coming with supply of food items. Such food items like biscuits are being distributed to people living in schools and those in quarantine.
Mercedes Benz to set up temporary hospital
Mercedes-Benz India to set up a temporary hospital with medical facilities and isolation wards for Covid-19 patients, in a newly developed medical facility at Mhalunge-Ingale village, Chakan Khed. The facility will be equipped with isolation wards with a capacity of 1,500 patients.
Mercedes-Benz India will assist zilla parishad with all necessary infrastructure including medical equipment required to create a temporary out-patient department (OPD), infrastructure to admit patients, stretchers, wheel chairs, sanitizers, among other essentials required in the smooth functioning of the hospital and isolation ward. The company has also directly supported the Grant Medical Foundation (Ruby Hall Clinic) by donating ventilators.
Martin Schwenk, managing director, and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, said, “In these challenging times, we are trying to support the local community and the local authorities. The new medical facility will help the local authorities and the people of the region with healthcare in the coming times, if the situation worsens. We stand together with our community and it remains our endeavour to support them and the authorities in every possible way. We hope for a steady recovery of the crisis and getting back to normalcy.”
Mercedes-Benz India will provide ration and cleaning kits to 1,600 families from Khed and Vimannagar. This initiative will be executed through Mercedes-Benz India’s existing partner NGOs, Shashwat Trust and Ashraya Initiatives for children. The initiative will secure requirements of food and hygiene for these families till the end of May.
Central Railway Pune division distributes food packets, bottled water to needy
Central Railway has started distributing food packets, grocery kits, biscuits, packaged drinking water bottles, fruits to the needy at various stations in Pune division from March 28. Voluntary contributions and physical assistance started pouring in and Central Railway has made arrangements with the commercial department in coordination with IRCTC, NGOs, commercial staff, RPF personnel, among others. In Pune division, food packets were distributed to 850 persons at areas surrounding Pune and Kolhapur railway station.
RPF also distributed food packets to 1,900 persons on March 31, including 330 persons at Pune division which includes Kolhapur, Pune, Pimpri, Dehu road, Karad.
State Covid-19 helpline
The public health department of Maharashtra has launched a dedicated state Covid-19 helpline - +91 20 2612 7394 on WhatsApp. This service will be free-to-use and will act as a central source for accurate, up-to-date information about the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. This service will be available both in English and Marathi.
The helpline is an automated ‘chatbot’ service which will allow citizens to get verified answers to questions about Covid-19 from the public health department of Maharashtra within 24 hours. To begin with, the service will provide information on topics such as prevention and symptoms, support being provided by Maharashtra government and details on common myths, with more options to be included in the future.
Complimenting the partnership with WhatsApp, Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister of Maharashtra ,said, “At this challenging time we urge residents to stay home and message the ‘Covid Helpline Maharashtra’ service on WhatsApp for verified facts and the latest guidance from the government of Maharashtra.”
