Even as Cyclone Nisarga was approaching Mumbai, a minor political storm was brewing in connection with the COVID-19 hospital built by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) at the Bandra Kurla Complex, with several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that the hospital was damaged in the cyclone.
R.A. Rajeev, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, on Thursday clarified that there was no damage to the makeshift hospital built for non-critical COVID-19 patients. “The hospital is designed considering the weather conditions of Mumbai. We had started strengthening the structure two days earlier, and taking abundant caution patients were taken to a safe location,” he said.
What BJP leaders said
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Thursday said he had written to the Chief Secretary to initiate an inquiry into the hospital before allowing patients to return. He alleged that there were already leakages in the facility. BJP MLA Ameet Satam wrote to the MMRDA demanding a project cost sheet.
Mr. Rajeev said only a few tin sheets along the boundary had fallen. “We are repairing that, but the main hospital has not been damaged. Even the toilet blocks and the hospital structure of Phase 2 [being built] has not been damaged,” he said, adding that the facility will not be impacted during the monsoon and patients will start returning soon.
Patients moved to NSCI
Around 240 patients had been shifted from the COVID-19 care centre in BKC to the facility set up at the NSCI dome in Worli on Tuesday. Dr. Rajeev Joshi, who is in charge of the NSCI facility, said around 220 patients who had been transferred from BKC were receiving treatment there, while a few had been shifted to Nair, Sion and KEM hospitals.
The first phase of the BKC hospital, which is already functional, has 1,008 beds, of which 504 are non-oxygen facility beds while the other 504 have oxygen supply. Ground work for construction of the second phase is also under way.
