Atlanta Club puja committee from Kolkata has converted their puja mandap into a safe home. The puja committee has said that they are possibly the first club in the whole of India to turn into a critical care unit and not just an isolation center.
A few days ago, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with the puja committees of Kolkata, urged them to help in the fight against COVID-19. Meanwhile, Atalanta, a typical neighborhood club, which in normal times holds Durga Puja and various other cultural events, and which has now turned into a full-fledged COVID-19 facility. Originally, the safe home has been opened for the treatment of people suffering from COVID-19 in Ward No. 94 of Kolkata Municipality.
Rajeev Hariharan, general secretary of the club said, “We have four nurses and two ayahs attending to the patients round the clock. A doctor visits us every day. We are equipped to handle even those patients whose oxygen saturation has dropped to below 70; we have 15 oxygen cylinders at the moment, and we have been stocking cylinders for 30 years now, for use in cases of emergency,”
He further added, “All the expenses are being borne by the Rotary Club and by our members, who add up to around 350. Besides, we have been home-delivering food — free of cost — to over 100 COVID-19 patients daily for more than a month now, which is being sponsored by the 1988 batch of Don Bosco students. If people don’t help people now, then when?”