JOIN USNF Railways ready with 288 Covid care coaches; 121 handed over to Assam, Nagaland and Tripura
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) on Thursday said it modified 288 passenger coaches into Covid care coaches to supplement efforts made by the state governments to tackle the second wave of the Covid-19.
"Out of these, 120 have been handed over in Assam, Nagaland and Tripura for use. These coaches are equipped with oxygen supplies and other facilities required for isolation and care of the Covid-19 patients. This will help state governments to cater to the increasing need for beds," Anshul Gupta, general manager of NFR told reporters in Guwahati.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said the state government would provide medical staff and other facilities while using these Covid care coaches.
Out of the 121 coaches already handed over, 90 are in Assam (Guwahati: 21, Badarpur: 20, Lumding: 20, Tinsukia: 10, Dibrugarh: 20), 20 in Tripura (Agartala) and 10 in Dimapur in Nagaland.
"Similar Covid care coaches are ready and available in New Bongaigaon, Rangiya, Mariani, Katihar, Alipurduar and Siliguri," Gupta said.
The whole of Northeast, parts of Bengal and Bihar come under the NFR.
The NFR is also taking steps to set up oxygen plants in its six hospitals to help.
The railway coaches can be useful as states in the Northeast have also witnessed a spike in Covid-19 cases, in turn putting more pressure on healthcare facilities of the states. Assam alone has been reporting more than 5,000 cases and over 50 deaths daily since May 5. The state has over 30,000 active cases presently.
Gupta said even as passenger movement suffered due to the pandemic, NFR registered the highest ever freight loading of 1.04 MT this year so far compared to 0.47 MT last year. "NFR released 11,659 freight rakes during 2020-21 against 9731 rakes in previous year which is a growth of 20 per cent. During April this year, 1186 rakes were unloaded against 622 rakes last year with an increase of 90.68 per cent," Gupta said.