India’s largest Covid facility shapes up
10,000 BEDS The Chhatarpur centre, the size of 22 football fields, will be cooled by 18k-tonne ACS, be split into 116 sections
nNEW DELHI: Five rows each of 16 iron cots — topped with mattresses covered with un-creased white bedsheets, neatly folded white blankets and thin pillows with blue covers -- are laid out at a distance of five feet from each other. On one side of each bed stands a grey plastic chair and on the other side rests a plastic stool with a sealed water bottle and a small soap atop it.
The mud floor is bare, and from the high roof hangs slowmoving fans, which would offer little comfort from the humidity but for the cool breeze flowing in from outside after a light drizzle.
On Wednesday, this was a patients’ section up on display at the campus of Radha Soami Satsang Beas in south Delhi’s Chhatarpur, which is set to be the biggest Covid-19 temporary facility in India with over 10,000 beds.
“The mud floor will be covered by carpets and then topped with vinyl sheets for easy cleaning. The hospital will be cooled by 18,000 tons of air-conditioners,” said BM Mishra, district magistrate (south), even as workers began spreading vinyl sheets at one corner of the facility.
The Delhi government had taken over the campus, roughly the size of 22 football fields in its effort to ramp bed strength and add medical infrastructure to combat the rapidly rising cases of the coronavirus disease in the city. The Delhi government is seeking to further increase the number of beds available for patients by setting up makeshift hospitals in 40 hotels and 77 banquet halls.
On Tuesday, home minister Amit Shah had tweeted that a large part of the facility would be operational by Friday and manned by the Indo-tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Sonalika Jiwani, IAS officer and sub-divisional (SDM) of Mehrauli, said the facility is divided into three sections: the largest for the patients, another for nurses and doctors, and the third will serve as the command section.
“For patients, there will be 116 sections of 88 beds each. In the first phase, we’ll have 2,000 beds ready by Thursday. The entire facility will be ready by the first week of July,” she said.
By Wednesday, dozens of large air-conditioners were already installed even as more were on their way. With the air-conditioners yet to be functional, the site was serviced by the fans hanging from long poles. While there is one fan on an average for every three beds, they will practically be useless for most patients going by how far the beds are placed from one another.
Every patient will have a bed, a stool, a chair, a small plastic cupboard, a dustbin and utensils, and will be given a toiletry kit. The beds will either be the foldable iron cots, or ones manufactured using cardboard.
“Individual phone and laptop charging facility will be available for each bed. Patients can also bring their laptops, but for any video or audio application, they will have to use headphones,” said DM Mishra.
There are 600-odd toilets at the centre with 70 portable toilets -including three special ones for physically challenged people -stationed outside. “The aim is to have one toilet for every 10 patients at least,” said the DM.
Sanjeev Tiwari, the operations head of YLDA India Pvt Ltd, the firm hired by DUSIB to set up portable