The Maharashtra government has given a nod for a 5,000-bed infectious diseases hospital in Mumbai to battle the COVID pandemic. This would be the biggest of such facility in the country.

The Kasturba Hospital on Sane Guruji Marg, run by the Bruhanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), is the only dedicated hospital for infectious diseases in Mumbai

Till now, several civic and government-owned hospitals in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) have been converted into COVID-19 hospitals to treat patients struggling with the pandemic.

‘Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has given a go-ahead to the project after a series of meetings with Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar and Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal,’ reported Deccan Chronicle

The BMC’s land acquisition department has invited Expression of Interest for land acquisition of the mega-project that is expected to be located in the northern suburbs of the commercial capital of India.

The BMC has implemented a 5T COVID-19 response process involving testing, tracing, triaging and containment, treatment and transparent communication. It has further implemented an IT-based solution for capturing all the essential details pertaining to COVID-19 and making it available effectively to the citizens.

Most of the processes are online which includes notifying the availability of beds and allotment of beds to the virus-affected citizens. The EOI note states that the BMC took initiative for augmenting the existing health infrastructure as well as constructing jumbo facilities at various places in Greater Mumbai.

Considering the large scale requirement of beds, the BMC is instrumental in putting up 22,756 beds capacity out of which 1,738 beds are ICCU, 11,250 beds are oxygenated, 1054 beds are ventilator beds.

The proposed 5,000-bed hospital may be located in the suburban region of Mumbai so that it serves the population of Mumbai as well as patients coming from neighbouring districts of Thane, Palghar and Raigad.

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