PUNE: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said on Saturday Pune would soon get three makeshift hospitals to ease the region’s shortage of Covid-19 beds.
The hospitals — each with 800 beds (600 with oxygen and 200 with ventilators) — will be similar to the huge unit at Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). Pawar said the units, which will be operational within a fortnight, will add 2,400 beds in Pune district in phases.
The three hospitals are expected to cost Rs 300 crore. The minister said the state will bear 50% of this cost while the remaining amount will be borne by local authorities. “Each unit will require nearly Rs 100 crore. The state government has agreed to bear half the expenses. The PMC, the PCMC and the PMRDA will take care of the other half,” Pawar told TOI.
The local administration has proposed several sites for the temporary hospitals. But an Expression of Interest (EoI) has been floated by the PMRDA for a unit at Balewadi. The other two are likely to come up at Vimannagar and another location in the main Pune city area.
Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Pune Divisional Commissioner’s office, Saurabh Rao, told TOI that the three units have been approved “in principle” by the high-powered committee for Pune. He said a technical team has been shown several locations and one site within PMC limits — on the grounds of the College of Engineering, Pune — may be taken up depending on requirements. “The committee has cleared my proposal, which emphasised the need for the jumbo facilities. Since it's the monsoon season, the structures have to be erected at a site which will not pose problems later on,” Rao said.
He reiterated that setting aside more space for Covid-19 patients at government and private hospitals can ease the current shortage of beds. On Saturday, the number of vacant beds in the district stood at 3,956. Of these, there were 55 ICU units. But within PMC limits, the virtual dashboard set by the divisional commissioner's office, showed just five vacant beds.
Rao said the administration was in talks with private hospitals to take over more non-Covid beds. He added that the administration may even turn entire hospitals into all-Covid units to ease the shortage in the region.
The hospitals — each with 800 beds (600 with oxygen and 200 with ventilators) — will be similar to the huge unit at Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). Pawar said the units, which will be operational within a fortnight, will add 2,400 beds in Pune district in phases.
The three hospitals are expected to cost Rs 300 crore. The minister said the state will bear 50% of this cost while the remaining amount will be borne by local authorities. “Each unit will require nearly Rs 100 crore. The state government has agreed to bear half the expenses. The PMC, the PCMC and the PMRDA will take care of the other half,” Pawar told TOI.
The local administration has proposed several sites for the temporary hospitals. But an Expression of Interest (EoI) has been floated by the PMRDA for a unit at Balewadi. The other two are likely to come up at Vimannagar and another location in the main Pune city area.
Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Pune Divisional Commissioner’s office, Saurabh Rao, told TOI that the three units have been approved “in principle” by the high-powered committee for Pune. He said a technical team has been shown several locations and one site within PMC limits — on the grounds of the College of Engineering, Pune — may be taken up depending on requirements. “The committee has cleared my proposal, which emphasised the need for the jumbo facilities. Since it's the monsoon season, the structures have to be erected at a site which will not pose problems later on,” Rao said.
He reiterated that setting aside more space for Covid-19 patients at government and private hospitals can ease the current shortage of beds. On Saturday, the number of vacant beds in the district stood at 3,956. Of these, there were 55 ICU units. But within PMC limits, the virtual dashboard set by the divisional commissioner's office, showed just five vacant beds.
Rao said the administration was in talks with private hospitals to take over more non-Covid beds. He added that the administration may even turn entire hospitals into all-Covid units to ease the shortage in the region.
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