Delhi,
Uttar Pradesh and Telangana have stationed rail coaches turned into isolation units for Covid-19 patients at select locations in these States. This comes as confirmed
Covid-19 cases in India inch closer to the three-lakh mark.
Uttar Pradesh has finalised 24 stations for deployment of these coaches, while Telangana has asked for coaches to be stationed at three stations, and Delhi state government has asked for coaches to be stationed at one railway station as yet-- Shakurbasti.
The
Indian Railways have already allocated these coaches to States. Ten coaches, with a capacity of accommodating 16 patients each, have been stationed at each location.
“As per guidelines of
ministry of health and family welfare(MoHFW), few
State Governments have sent the requisition to Indian Railways,” the railway ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Indian Railways is prepared to provide 5231
Covid Care Centers, which zonal Railways have converted to be used as quarantine facilities.
The Coaches can be used for very mild cases that can be clinically assigned to the Covid Care centers as per guidelines issued by MoHFW, and in areas where the State has exhausted the facilities and needs to augment capacities for isolation of both suspect and confirmed Covid cases.
In March this year, 16 Zones of the Indian railways started converting 5,000 coaches into isolation units, while
the Railway Board had asked zonal railways to ensure preparedness for around 20,000 coaches that can be used as Covid-care units.