Wuhan-type hospital coming up in Mumbai BKC

A makeshift 1,000-bed mega-hospital is coming up at a fast pace in the commercial hub of Bandra-Kurla Complex on the lines of Wuhan in China, a top official said here on Wednesday.

The hospital is being constructed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) at a sprawling ground in the BKC.

"The work on the hospital started on April 28. It will be ready within a fortnight as a major isolation facility for non-critical Covid-19 cases," an MMRDA official told IANS.

The hospital will occupy the ground normally used for exhibitions, political rallies and mega cultural-social events.

On May 5, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde -- who is overseeing the project -- visited the BKC to review the progress of the work. "The 1,000-bed hospital is coming up on the lines of the hospital in Wuhan," said Shinde later.

MMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner R.A. Rajeev is overseeing the entire process of the critical facity, which is the biggest so far taken up by the state government in the city.

On April 28, when the work started, MMRDA had tweeted: ".... started construction of 1,000 beds quarantine and isolation facility for COVID-19 at BKC exhibition ground. It will add additional facility up to 5,000 beds if there is a requirement in future."

Recently, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh also visited the site and inspected the work which the MMRDA will hand over to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The new hospital will have oxygen facilities, pathological laboratory, laundry, cabins for doctors and nurses and other requirements.

Mumbai is currently the worst hit in India in terms of Covid-19 casualties and cases, sparking huge concern among the medicos and the masses. It has emerged as the country's corona capital with 9,945 patients and 387 casualties till date.