Jumbo Covid-19 facility in Mumbai suburb a significant addition to city's health infra

The facility constructed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) was handed over to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray

The jumbo 2,170-bed COVID-19 hospital at Valanai gaon in suburban Malad equipped with dedicated ICU for children and state-of-the-art medical equipment is one of the four facilities being set up in Mumbai to strengthen the health infrastructure to tackle a possible third wave of the pandemic.

The facility constructed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) was handed over to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at the Sahyadri guest house earlier in the day.

MMRDA commissioner SVR Srinivas handed over the documents of the jumbo COVID-19 centre to BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal. Speaking at the occasion, Thackeray said, "We cannot predict when a third wave of the pandemic will hit, but the threat of the second wave's reversal is also there".

The COVID-19 hospital has a 190-bed ICU, 1,536 beds with oxygen facility, an ICU for children, a 20-bed dialysis unit, a 40-bed triage and a 384-bed isolation room with a total of 2,170 beds, the MMRDA said in a release. In addition, a pathology laboratory has been set up for haematology and biochemistry and state-of-the-art medical facilities like portable X-ray, CT scanner, ECG machine have been made available in the hospital, the release said.

The MMRDA has installed 240 CCTV cameras and an information room in the hospital for relatives of patients, apart from a room for doctors and administrative work. "This fast-moving semi-permanent type of construction is modelled on the one since 2020 on the MMRDA grounds at the Bandra-Kurla Complex for the COVID Health Center," the MMRDA said.

Of the Rs 90 crore estimated cost of the work, around Rs 57 crore was spent on the construction of this hospital and about Rs 33 crore on procurement of medical equipment, it said. Apart from Malad, CCCs or COVID Care Centres will come up at Kanjurmarg, Sion, and Racecourse in Worli in Mumbai. Additionally, the bed capacity at NESCO centre, Richardson and Cruddas facility at Byculla and the NSCI is being ramped up.

Thackeray also inaugurated the new Kalanagar flyover's second corridor connecting the Sea link to the Bandra Kurla Complex on Bandra east side. Addressing the function, Thackeray said that MMRDA has found the permanent solution to the traffic snarl issue at the Kalanagar junction and the flyover will ease the traffic congestion in the area.

The MMRDA said it is the longest arm of this three-direction flyover of Kalanagar and it is expected to save about 10 minutes of travelling time. The MMRDA has completed the work on the 804-meter long arm having the width of 7.50 meter of Worli-Bandra Sea Link till the prominent residential, commercial and business hub of Bandra-Kurla Complex, it said. Of the total three lanes, the lane from Bandra-Kurla Complex to Bandra-Worli Sea link was opened to traffic on February 21 early this year, while the third arm with two lanes of 7.5-metre width from Sion-Dharavi junction going 340 metres in length to the Bandra-Worli Sea link is under construction.

At Kalanagar junction a few roads including Western Expressway, and Sion Dharavi link Road and Bandra-Kurla Complex road intersect causing heavy traffic snarls. The original cost of the project was Rs 163.08 crore.

However, owing to works on the Metro Line-2B, some scope of flyover was curtailed and the revised cost of this flyover stands at Rs 103.73 crore, the MMRDA release said.

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