MUMBAI: Twenty Covid-19 patients finally moved into special Covid Care coaches provided by Western Railway at Nandurbar during the weekend, chief spokesperson Sumit Thakur said on Sunday.
To beat the heat at Nandurbar, the WR came out with two novel ideas. Firstly, it covered the roof of the coaches with layered gunnies and a water drip system to lower the temperature. Secondly, it affixed water coolers to windows of each coach and supported them on stands kept on the platform.
“We did not have to send AC coaches as this new system has ensured that the coach is a comfortable isolation area for patients and it also has several facilities including mosquito nets, bio-toilets, power sockets and oxygen cylinders. Space has been created in these coaches to hold IV fluid bottles, extra bottle holders and clamps have been provided to hang them,” Thakur said.
The railways have made available 21 coaches with Covid-care facility on platform 3 of Nandurbarstation and more patients are likely to be accommodated in a few days, Thakur said. “A modified coach has eight bays or ‘cabins’ with a maximum 16 beds,” he stated. A normal coach has a total 72 berths.
Every train coach has three toilets — one western and two Indian style — and a bathroom with hand showers, buckets, mugs and bathroom stools.