Not keen to use ‘inconvenient’ Covid coaches, says PMC

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation said it was not keen at present to use the special “Covid coaches” the railways had made because it was not convenient to keep patients there.
Pune municipal commissioner, Shekhar Gaikwad, said, “It will be slightly inconvenient for authorities to keep patients in these coaches. Beds need to be at distance of 6ft and 24-hour medical assistance is required. Patients may have to be shifted to hospitals in ambulances. At present, we have enough beds at our disposal and College of Engineering Pune’s hostel has also been taken for the quarantine purpose.”
As many as 50 coaches at the Pune rail division have been converted into special Covid coaches. They are stationed at the Pune railway station.
Pune railway division’s public relations officer, Manoj Jhawar, said, “Everything, from food to oxygen cylinders, has been arranged.”
“The coaches are transformed to keep only asymptomatic persons. Pune division is in the process of recruiting around 280 doctors, nurses, hospital attendants and housekeeping attendants. The coaches are there whenever the need arises,” a railway official said.