CCC started in rly coaches vacant, all patients discharged

Nagpur: Even as Covid-19 positive cases and deaths are declining in the city, there are no immediate plans to close down the Covid care centre (CCC) started in the 11 railway coaches stationed at the erstwhile Ajni Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Narendra Nagar.
Sources said if there are no patients, the Central Railway and the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) will have to withdraw the facility as the running cost of the coaches may be over Rs3 lakh per month considering the staff and facilities being provided.
According to the sources, the contract for various facilities provided in the coaches is till June 10. If the facility stays the contract will have to be extended. Secondly, the coaches have been put on a siding which is still in use for transporting goods like foodgrains, tractors, sand etc. Though there is no immediate commercial impact, in the long-term it will hit railway revenue, they said.
The CCC was started on May 2 and till now only 20 patients have availed of the benefit. On Thursday, there was no patient in these coaches. All patients have been discharged after recovery. They were all praise for the services offered by the Central Railway and NMC.
Municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B told TOI that though cases have gone down, we need to remain alert. “We don’t know what will be situation after the lockdown is withdrawn or restrictions are relaxed after June 1. Hence, as our preparedness, we need to continue with the facility even if there are no patients,” he said.
Additional DRM Jay Singh said the NMC has to take the final call. “We have no problem in continuing the facility. It has been a good learning experience for us. The matter is sub-judice and it was only after the high court’s directions the coach facility was started. We have 17 more such coaches at Amla and Wardha. We are ready to deploy them too if the agencies demand,” he said.
On the low usage of the railway coaches, NMC nodal officer Dr Narendra Bahirwar said, “The facility is working well. Had the facility been started in April when there was a huge crisis of beds, it would have been fully occupied. By the time it started on May 2, several other Covid care centres had come up in the city.”
“Though the facility was for mild and asymptomatic patients, the doctors even treated those who reported with a CT score of 10. A couple of them were also referred to either IGGMCH or GMCH,” said Kunal Mourya, volunteer with NGO Together We Can which is doing the hand-handling part.
Recounting their experience after they tested positive, Prakash and Amita Gajbhiye from Trimurti Nagar said, “There wasn’t enough space at our home, so we preferred to isolate ourselves in these coaches. We were treated well and served food and breakfast free of cost. The doctors and nursing staff also took good care. We were discharged after 10 days.”