Agra's 'good Samaritans' help to reduce Covid agony

Agra Not deterred by "sarkari" gaps and flaws in the Covid-19 containment strategy, a large number of volunteers and philanthropists in the Taj city have been extending a variety of services to comfort victims and their family members. From temple trusts to gurdwaras and NGOs, all have been doing commendable service in the last fortnight to ease the tensions and fill in the gaps in services. On Tuesday, shoe exporters association AFMEC opened its 250-bed hospital with adequate medi-infrastructure. Pooran Dawar, the chief inspiration behind the ambitious project, said: "We have managed to put together a full package of facilities backed up by trained staff of doctors and nurses, at our facility in village Seenghna, on the national highway. If there is need, we will add more beds. No one should go without medical help."

A few days ago, the 130-year-old Kshetra Bajaaj Samiti, that runs the Taj Ganj electric and the conventional crematoriums, opened a facility for Covid-19 patients at the Nemi Chand Homeopathy Hospital on the Agra-Firozabad road. Ashok Goyal, the Samiti's chief functionary, also organised a day-long Yagna at the Shamshan Ghat to appease Lord Shiva. The Samiti has a fleet of vehicles to transport dead bodies to the crematoriums. Arrangement for Ganga water is also made for the bodies, along with provision of wood at fair cost. Due to the pressure, the electric crematorium run by the organisation had recently to add one more furnace.