Railway coaches converted as quarantine facility centre ready for placement in 20 NFR stations — CPRO

Guwahati, June 12 (PTI): Altogether 315 railway coaches converted as quarantine facility for Covid-19 patients by Northeast Frontier Railway are ready for placement at 20 stations in the zone, a NFR spokesman said on Friday.

The railway stations for placement of the converted coaches as and when such requests are received are Agartala, Alipurduar Junction, Ambasa, Badarpur, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Kamakhya, Katihar, Lumding, New Bongaigaon, New Cooch Behar, New Jalpaiguri, New Tinsukia, Rangapara North, Rangiya, Silchar, Mariani, Murkongselek, New Alipurduar and Siliguri, he said.

The coaches can be used for very mild cases that can be clinically assigned to the Covid Care centres as per guidelines issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), said NFR Chief Public Relations Officer Subhanan Chanda.

These coaches can be used in areas where the states have exhausted the facilities and need to augment capacities for isolation of both suspects and confirmed Covid cases, Chanda said.

These facilities are part of the integrated Covid plan developed by MoHFW and NITI Aayog, he said, adding that out of 215 stations identified across the country, Indian Railways will provide healthcare facilities in 85 stations.

In other 130 stations, the CPRO said states are to request Covid care coaches only if they agree to provide staff and essential medicines.

As per the guidelines of MoHFW, state governments would send the requisition to railways, which will make the allocation of these coaches to the state/union territories. So far 60 coaches have been requisitioned in Telangana for Secunderabad, Kachiguda and Adilabad locations, while 10 coaches have been requisitioned in Delhi, the railway official said.