MUMBAI: The country's biggest container handling port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), has converted its multi-skill training centre at Bokadvira in the state into 120-bed hospital for treating people infected with coronavirus.
The training centre has been temporarily handed over, along with an ambulance, to the local authorities, a release said on Friday.
The move is part of the several initiatives taken by the port authorities in its fight against the pandemic amid rising numbers of cases in the country, it said.
"JNPT is very conscious of its role and responsibility towards the extended JNPT family and is committed towards them.
By handing over our training centre as Covid Care Centre to the state authorities, we are trying to increase the preparedness of the local community in fighting this pandemic," JNPT Chairman Sanjay Sethi said.
JNPT has been carrying out extensive community disinfectant spraying and sanitation drive in all its nearby villages and has also handed over infra-red temperature guns to the sarpanchs of these villages as preventive measure, the release said.
The port at Navi Mumbai accounts for around 52 per cent of the total containerised cargo volume among the major ports in the country, and has been operational all through the lockdown period as part of essential services.