Railways are deploying 204 coaches in 4 states to increase COVID capacity. (Representative)
New Delhi:
The Railways have deployed 204 isolation buses to four states, including 54 at the Shakurbasti train station maintenance depot in Delhi, officials said, adding that the number in the capital would increase to 500 in the coming days .
Earlier Sunday, Interior Minister Amit Shah said the center would provide 500 of these coaches to Delhi to address the shortage of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.
States like Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi requisitioned these buses two months after the national carrier had converted more than 5,000 of its non-air conditioned buses into COVID treatment centers.
Seventy coaches have been deployed to Uttar Pradesh – 10 each to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction, Varanasi, Bhadohi, Faizabad, Saharanpur, Mirzapur and Jhansi.
Fifty-four were deployed to the Shakurbasti maintenance depot in Delhi.
Sixty coaches have been deployed in Telangana – 20 in Secunderabad, Kachguda and Adilabad and 20 in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.
While Uttar Pradesh requested 240 of these coaches for 24 locations, Telangana requisitioned 60 for three places and Delhi requested 10 of these coaches, as COVID-19 cases in India exceeded three lakh.
The first batch of 10 coaches with a total capacity of 160 beds was deployed at Shakurbasti station in Delhi on May 31. Now 44 other coaches have been deployed.
According to an integrated COVID plan developed by the Ministry of Health and NITI Aayog, these coaches can be used in areas where the state has exhausted facilities and must increase the capacity to isolate suspected and confirmed cases.
Coaches have the necessary medical equipment, such as oxygen cylinders, blankets, medical supplies, sterilized bunks for the safety and convenience of those placed in isolation.
Coaches can be used for very mild cases that can be clinically assigned to coronavirus care centers, according to guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health.
The composition of the rakes will be decided according to the requirement of a state.
With 9,195 deaths to Sunday, India is the ninth most affected country in terms of death from COVID-19 while the highest peak of 11,929 cases brought the total to more than 3.20 lakh.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, India recorded 311 new deaths during the 24-hour period until Sunday morning, while the recovery rate rose to more than 50% with 1,622,378 patients cured so far, leaving 1,49,348 active cases.
Johns Hopkins University, which has compiled COVID-19 data worldwide, ranked India fourth in terms of total workload.
It is the third consecutive day that more than 10,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the country.
According to the Ministry of Railways, these wagons that have become insulators will also be fitted with mosquito nets, charging stations for laptops and telephones. The toilets have been transformed into bathrooms.
These trainers have been modified at a cost of Rs 2 lakh each. Some of the coaches were ready for deployment on April 11, officials said.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
