As Maharashtra, reeling under Coronavirus outbreak  having 15525 positive cases and 617 fatalities so far, with capital city of Mumbai the worst hit, the government is coming up with a makeshift 1,000-bed mega-hospital at a fast pace in the commercial hub of Bandra-Kurla Complex on the lines of Wuhan in China, a top official said here on Wednesday.

The hospital is being constructed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) at a sprawling ground in the BKC.

“The work on the hospital started on April 28. It will be ready within a fortnight as a major isolation facility for non-critical Covid-19 cases,” an MMRDA official was quoted by news agency IANS as saying.

The MMRDA ground normally used for exhibitions, political rallies and mega cultural-social events, will now make way for the hospital.

Earlier, on May 5, the state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, who is overseeing the project, visited the BKC to review the progress of the work.

“The 1,000-bed hospital is coming up on the lines of the hospital in Wuhan,” said Shinde later on.

MMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner RA Rajeev is overseeing the entire process of the critical facility, which is the biggest so far taken up by the government in the city.

MMRDA had tweeted on April 28 and announced the starting of the project, “…. started construction of 1,000 beds quarantine and isolation facility for COVID-19 at BKC exhibition ground. It will add additional facility up to 5,000 beds if there is a requirement in future.”

State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh also visited the site recently and inspected the work which the MMRDA will hand over to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The new hospital will have oxygen facilities, pathological laboratory, laundry, cabins for doctors and nurses and other requirements.

The financial capital of India, Mumbai has emerged as the country’s corona capital with 9,945 patients and 387 casualties till date. It is currently the worst hit in the country due to COVID-19 outbreak, sparking huge concern among the medicos and the masses .