Karnataka: Big demand to make Suvarna Soudha a Covid care centre

BELAGAVI: As Covid cases in Belagavi district are on the rise, the demand to convert the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha (SVS) into a Covid Care Centre has been steadily growing.
Khanapur MLA Anjali Nimbalkar has written to chief minister BS Yediyurappa that the Rs 300 crore capacious building could help overcome the shortage of beds. Last year too, there were demands that this be made a CCC but nothing came of it.
Netizens on several Facebook pages dedicated to Belagavi are creating memes with posting photos of SVS and slamming the state government for not utilising it during this medical emergency.
Ever since the SVS was opened in 2012, there have been calls from administrators and people that it should be used better. Apart from an assembly session once a year, it really does not serve the purpose for which it was intended. The government did not hold any assembly session in 2020 and has not shifted offices from the state secretariat as assured.
Prakash Wali, a resident of the city, said the district has started to report nearly 1,000 cases every day. “We’re hearing of a shortage of beds and oxygen. It’s high time the state converts the SVS, which is lying unused, into a Covid Care Centre. The government can also set up oxygenated beds to reduce dependency on private hospitals.”
Another resident told TOI that the state could easily put up 1,000 beds in this large space.