COVID second wave threat: PMC has merely 120 beds for 8.4L residents

Residents of Panvel and Kharghar are concerned about the poor health infrastructure as it will become a major challenge early next year when a second wave of novel coronavirus infection is expectedThe Panvel Municipal Corporation PMC under which Kharghar comes is faced with the challenge particularly after the state government recently removed two private referral hospitals from the list for treating serious COVID19 patients in the PMC MGM hospital and a few beds in D Y Patil Hospital which has now been brought under the ambit of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya YojanaPopulation of over 8 lakhBesides the PMC with a population of over 84 lakh has no jumbo centre or dedicated COVID healthcare centre which the doctors believe will only make the situation grim in case the infection spreads rapidly during the second wavePanvel City Municipal Corporation doctor collects swab samples of a cop in Navi Mumbai File picPTIMoreover contracts of doctors who were hired during the initial phase of COVID19 spread have not been renewed and majority of them have returned to private practice One among them is Dr Pankaj Titar a resident of Kharghar The PMC had hired him on contract basis and he served as the nodal officer for COVID19 in the Kharghar area for seven months His service ended on October 29Cases on rise postDiwaliThe number of COVID19 cases has been on the rise since after Diwali And we do not have the basic health infrastructure required for such a large population The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation NMMC and Thane Municipal Corporation TMC are well prepared to handle a second wave but the PMC will need to set up everything from scratch This is only possible with support from CIDCO and the state health department Dr Titar saidHe added Kharghar with a population of over 257 lakh and 53000 families is the largest ward in the PMC but still we managed to tackle the first wave with limited resources That was possible with home isolation and constant monitoring of the patients However the situation might not be the same during the secondwave as it is said to be more aggressiveMangal Kamble founderpresident of Swach Kharghar Foundation We the residents of Kharghar have been on the receiving end ever since the formation of the PMC in 2017 Neither CIDCO nor any elected political representative has bothered about Kharghar and its adjoining areas which are deprived of basic healthcare facilitiesAlso ReadBMC identifies three storage spaces for COVID19 vaccine when readyPMC speakPMC Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Shinde confirmed that the PMC has only one subdistrict hospital that has capacity of 120 beds with 10 ICU beds We have been having a series of meetings to prepare for a second waveThe hospital was inaugurated only last yearAnother PMC official said In case of an emergency we will have no option but to approach MGM hospital and D Y Patil Hospital to take in serious patients While the TMC and the NMMC were given permission to set up jumbo care centres we were left out Though CIDCO has assured to set up a jumbo facility in Kalamboli areaMLA speakPrashant Thakur the BJP MLA from Panvel said It is a fact that the PMC is newly formed and has a long way to go both in terms of having funds and infrastructure We are equally concerned about the second wave of COVID19 outbreak and a highlevel meeting was held with PMC Commissioner Sudhakar DeshmukhThakur said he has suggested that more private hospitals and nursing homes be brought under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana so that poor can avail COVID19 treatment in case of a second outbreak of COVID19 He added that setting up a jumbo care centre within the PMC would not be worth it as the facility and the money spent on it would go to waste once the pandemic is overDr Titar said the PMC which has six wards on Tuesday reported 545 confirmed COVID19 cases including 127 in Kharghar followed by Kalmaboli with 121 and New Panvel with 110 Of the 575 killed by the deadly virus 88 died in Kharghar 139 in Kamothe and 133 in New Panvel10No of ICU beds in the only PMC hospitalKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news