Realizing that the existing health infrastructure in the Union Territory would not able to face the situation emerging due to the increasing number of Corona patients, the J&K Government requested the Centre to immediately construct temporary hospitals for infected patients.
At the request of the J&K government, the Union Home Secretary, Ajay Bhalla on Wednesday asked the UT administration to immediately identify suitable locations for the construction of two 500-bedded hospitals.
The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), which is going to construct two hospitals - one each at Srinagar and Jammu, has been asked to evaluate and submit the corresponding proposal estimates through a team of experts.
The Chief Secretary of J&K, B V R Subrahmanyam, informed that the UT has witnessed a consistent surge in patient load over the past few days. The existing health care facilities are adequately catering to the needs of patients; however, a continuation of this upward trend may lead to a shortage of COVID beds. To successfully mitigate shortages in medical facilities, it was requested that the temporary DRDO COVID hospitals be constructed well in time.
He further requested that the upcoming hospitals must be equipped with isolation beds having oxygen support and 125 fully equipped ICU beds. He said that J&K has identified two patches of land in Jammu and Srinagar for the early start of construction work. The construction of two 500-bedded hospitals in J&K will greatly reinforce medical infrastructure for dedicated COVID care in the Union territory.
DRDO to set up 500 medical oxygen plants across India
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been asked to set up 500 medical oxygen plants within three months with money coming from the 'PM cares fund'.
The Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that site preparation for five plants to be installed in Delhi/NCR region has already been started. Already such plants have been established by the DRDO in Ladakh and North Eastern regions.