Will be equipped with all facilities
Govind Sharma
JAMMU, May 7: Amid shortage of ICU and oxygen supported beds in Government as well as private hospitals in Jammu, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has started construction work of a 500-bed COVID-19 hospital at Bhagwati Nagar here.
Sources told Excelsior that the Hospital is being set up by the DRDO at State land near Amarnath Yatri Niwas, Bhagwati Nagar. It is a joint initiative of the DRDO and the UT of J&K, they said, adding, the work on the Hospital has been initiated and by the end of the month, the Hospital will be handed over to the J&K Health Department for running.
They said after approval of the design of the Hospital, engineers of the DRDO have started construction work. The leveling of the land has almost been done, sources said and revealed that the Hospital will be a prefabricated structure having all COVID facilities. It will have 500 Isolation beds having oxygen support including 125 fully equipped ICU beds.
“The Hospital will have also 50-double room accommodation facility for doctors and paramedics staff and at least two liquid oxygen tanks each of 20 kl capacity will be in place to provide high flow of oxygen at every bed,” sources disclosed and added that the Hospital is being constructed in the most crucial hour as the number of oxygen supported beds in Jammu hospitals has dropped sharply in last one week and the number of people affected by/succumbed to the dreaded virus is increasing day by day.
Sources said this Hospital will certainly prove to be a lifeline for many COVID-19 patients who need ICU facilities. They further shared that Divisional Commissioner Jammu Dr Raghav Langer along with a team of officers today visited the site of the Hospital and took stock of the ongoing construction work.
When contacted, the Divisional Commissioner said, “Construction of this 500-bed hospital was mooted last month keeping in view sharp rise in COVID cases in Jammu and accordingly the demand was taken up with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, who gave nod to set up two such hospitals, one in Jammu and other in Kashmir”.
Dr Raghav Langer said that the Hospital is being set up at 40 kanal State land at Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu. He said it will be a prefabricated structure which will be completed by the DRDO within 15-20 days. He said as the work on the Hospital has been started by the DRDO, it will be ready to use by last week of this month. “Once ready to use, this Hospital will go a long way in easing the problems of COVID patients in the Jammu region where the number is surging day by day,” he added.
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