Maharashtra: BJP demands probe into state of coronavirus hospital at BKC

All patients admitted to the field hospital had been shifted out to NSCI dome in view of the threat posed by the Nisarga cyclone. The patients were expected to return to the temporary hospital on Thursday night.




The BJP on Thursday raised questions over the feasibility and necessity of building a Covid-19 hospital at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) grounds and demanded an inquiry into the state of the hospital before allowing patients inside.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Thursday said there were leakages at the hospital and demanded an inquiry into it.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), however, said the allegations were baseless. Metropolitan Commissioner R A Rajeev admitted that due to the weather conditions on Wednesday, a few tin sheets had fallen on the boundary wall of the hospital, which was being repaired but there was no damage to the main hospital.

“The hospital was constructed using German technology to weather winds speed up to 80 kmph. But as the cyclone had made landfall before Mumbai, the winds hitting this part of the city were up to 78.9 kmph and did not cause any harm to even the toilet blocks of the hospital,” said Rajeev.

BJP MLA Ameet Satam had written a letter to MMRDA, alleging that the facility had been damaged. While officials from MMRDA clarified that the images put out were instead from the adjoining dormitory for doctors under phase-2, which was still under construction, and not the main hospital building.

Rajeev said the temporary hospital — with a capacity of 1,108 beds, of which 504 are non-oxygen facility beds — was constructed keeping monsoon in mind.

“We raised the land level and augmented the stormwater drainage facility while desilting of nullah has been done to ensure there is no waterlogging in the area,” added Rajeev.

All patients admitted to the field hospital had been shifted out to NSCI dome in view of the threat posed by the Nisarga cyclone. The patients were expected to return to the temporary hospital on Thursday night.

The MMRDA has said that the second phase of the hospital, which will take the total bed capacity of the temporary hospital to 2,000, will be ready in the next 10 days. The phase-2 will also have about a 108-bed ICU facility and a 108-bed dialysis centre. The phase-1 of the hospital was completed at the cost of Rs 18 crore while the cost of phase-2 would be clear after its construction is completed.

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