Nagpur: Turning the heat on the State Government and AIIMS Director, the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court ordered them to set up additional beds at AIIMS and Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) within a week. The State Government and AIIMS failed to increase Covid-19 beds despite its clear directives on September 29, 2020.
The court said, if new difficulties are expressed at the last hour, it will not be helpful for the Nagpur district administration to come out of the emergency situation. Something which ought to have been completed long ago is now sought to be done. The Divisional Commissioner and AIIMS Director are directed to coordinate and ensure that 198 additional beds are set up without any excuse, a division bench comprising Justice Sunil Shukre and Justice Avinash Gharote said, adding that at least 50% of them should be oxygenated ones.
The bench expressed satisfaction with Government Pleader (GP) Ketki Joshi’s submission on beds availability in the city’s hospitals while hearing a suo motu PIL. Shreerang Bhandarkar, who has been appointed amicus curiae, said several beds were available for admitting Covid-19 patients.
“However, it would be necessary for the authorities to also think of the future. Therefore, as directed earlier, additional beds should be created within a week from today,” the judges said, while adjourning the hearing till April 5.
The GP Joshi informed that outside Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) limits, the total beds in the district are 1,359, of which 797 are unoccupied. Of them 658 are oxygenated and 139 are ICUs. Within NMC limits, GMCH has 600 beds of which 155 are vacant. Of vacant ones, 130 are oxygenated and 17 are ICUs. In Indira Gandhi Government Medical Colleges and Hospital (IGGMCH), out of 522 beds, 85 are vacant. Of these, 30 are oxygenated and 20 are ICUs. The GP added that the process for setting up additional 400 oxygenated beds at GMCH is underway and authorities are hopeful that it will be completed in next two weeks.
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