The process of dismantling jumbo Covid centres at Dahisar, Goregaon (Nesco) and Kanjurmarg is nearing completion, and the medicines and equipment from these centres are being distributed to tertiary and peripheral hospitals. As part of the process, the 40 metric tonnes (MT) liquid medical oxygen (LMO) tank at Kanjurmarg will be installed at the Mulund Octroi Naka and will be used to refill oxygen cylinders.
The state government, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the BMC together built the jumbo Covid centres across the city to cope with the shortage of beds when Covid infections were at their peak in March 2020. These centres have successfully handled all three waves of the pandemic so far.
While crores of rupees are spent on their operation and maintenance, only 1.92 percent of the positive patients are being hospitalised. So the BMC had made inventories of medicines, regular and specialised ICU beds, ventilators, BiPAP machines, monitors, eight LMO and other hospital equipment at Goregaon, Dahisar, Kanjurmarg and Mulund centres. Accordingly, the dismantling process started two months ago. The four centres have a capacity of 8,200 beds, with the maximum at the Nesco centre in Goregaon.
The 26 pressure swing adsorption (PSA) medical oxygen generating plants and LMO tanks will be distributed among hospitals within the city. This will need intensive work by uprooting the piping as the supply was connected to beds in the wards. For this, the BMC’s mechanical and electrical departments have invited a tender on Wednesday.
An official said, “We have sufficient space at Mulund Octroi Naka which is lying idle at present, and can accommodate the 40MT LMO. We are planning to use it for refilling oxygen cylinders in future.”
