Western Railway deploys 23 Covid care coaches in Palghar

MUMBAI: Western Railway (WR) has provided 23 non-airconditioned coaches of long distance trains at Palghar station to set-up isolation wards for Covid-19 patients in this predominantly tribal belt where health facilities are scarce.
The collector of Palghar district Marnik Gursal had sent request to WR on April 30. Palghar is 125 km from Mumbai.
In his letter to WR’s Mumbai’s Divisional Railway Manager GVL Satyakumar, the collector said, “Palghar is a newly formed Tribal district with inadequate infrastructure. At present we have 17,500 active cases. Hospital beds are full. It is kindly requested to allow medical railway coaches for management of 2000 patients, 500 each Dahanu, Boisar, Palghar and Vasai.”
WR’s chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur said, “We have sent 24 non-AC coaches, including 23 for patients and one for doctors. It will be made ready by Sunday evening or Monday. A total of 414 (18 per coach) patients can be accommodated in these coaches
The Palghar administration will take 3 more days to shift the patients as they have to make arrangements for paramedics and treatment related material.
In the modified Covid care coaches, the two middle berths have been removed in each cabin and one Indian-style toilet converted into a bathroom. All coaches have the necessary medical equipment such as oxygen cylinders, blankets, medical supplies and sterilised berths.
As per the agreed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) with the state government, air coolers will be provided in the coaches. Also, the roof of the coaches will be covered with grass cooling pads which will be sprinkled with water to control temperature. Ho
The first such district in Maharashtra eeeto get railway coaches is the tribal dominated Nandurbar district. For Nandurbar a total of 21 coaches have been made available.
During the first wave, CR had kept ready 482 Covid care coaches which were set up at the cost of Rs 3.8 crore and Western Railway had transformed 410 coaches for a little over Rs 2 crore for use by the state government in case of an emergency, following a directive from the railway board in March 2020. Both, CR and WR, gradually began reconverting these into normal coaches as Covid threat abated and more passenger trains began running.