Indian Railways converts over 4,000 coaches to 'Covid care coaches' amid virus surge

Most of these coaches were not used and complaints were raised about the heat and mosquitoes inside them.Premium
Most of these coaches were not used and complaints were raised about the heat and mosquitoes inside them.
 1 min read . Updated: 18 Apr 2021, 03:15 PM IST Staff Writer

In a bid to tackle a massive surge in the number of coronavirus cases, Indian Railways has turned 4,002 coaches into Covid care Coches. The Railways has said that 4,002 Covid care Coches are available with it in its 16 zones and can be made available for the state governments on request.

In 2020, the Railways had deployed 813 coaches with 12,472 beds in July -- New Delhi (503), Uttar Pradesh (270) and Bihar (40).

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However, most of these coaches were not used and complaints were raised about the heat and mosquitoes inside them.

This morning, India logged 1,501 deaths in a span of 24 hours. The country also recorded the biggest daily surge in Covid-19 cases with 2,61,500 infections, taking the caseload to 1.47 crore.

Railways deploys 94 Covid care coaches in Maharashtra

The Ministry of Railways has also deployed 94 Covid care coaches in Maharashtra's Nandurbar district out of around 4,000 coaches across India.

Six Covid-19 patients have been admitted in NDB (station code of Nandurbar) rake so far.

According to the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Only Maharashtra has sent the requisition to Indian Railways and Railways have allocated these coaches to the state.

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It may be noted that these coaches can be used for very mild cases that can be clinically assigned to the Covid care centres according to guidelines issued by MoHFW. These coaches can be used in areas where the state has exhausted the facilities and needs to augment capacities for isolation of both suspected and confirmed Covid cases. These facilities are part of the integrated Covid plan developed by MoHFW and NITI Ayog.

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