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“These buildings have requisite infrastructure like electricity and water connections…. We can accommodate at least 300 people in each of these buildings if the situation warrants such an arrangement,” another senior official said.

In Birbhum, a two-storey unutilised ITI building in Labhpur, 23km from Santiniketan, has been identified as an isolation centre. The administration has disinfected the building and ordered 200 beds along with pillows.

“We can increase the number of beds to 400 at this ITI. We have also identified two more buildings, a Kisan Mandi in Rampurhat and a Karma Tirtha in Muraroi,” said Moumita Godara Basu, the Birbhum district magistrate.

According to the plan, the proposed quarantine centres will be tagged with local block hospitals, and the district health department and health staff will monitor the patients.

In Burdwan, all block officials have been asked to identify such buildings. Y. Ratnakara Rao, the district magistrate of Hooghly, said the district authorities were also in the process of identifying potential isolation centres.

Officials said that in places like ITIs and Patha Sathis, adequate number of toilets was available, but not at the Kisan Mandis and Karma Tirthas. “We will set up toilets in places like the Kisan Mandis…. In case of an emergency, we can set up bio-toilets also,” an official in Birbhum said.

The Bengal government has decided to gradually set up quarantine facilities at around 500 unused and partially used buildings of training institutes and farmers’ markets spread across the districts in case the coronavirus outbreak spreads.

These buildings — mostly Kisan Mandis (farmers’ markets), Karma Tirthas (centres for local and rural entrepreneurship), Patha Sathis (roadside motels) and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) — are being chosen keeping in mind their location away from crowded places, a government official said.

“We are one step ahead of the other states as we already have these buildings, which are situated at a distance from crowded places. These buildings have boundary walls as well. They can be used as quarantine centres,” the official said.

Work has begun to disinfect several of these buildings, set up bio-toilet boxes and concrete washrooms, and install cots along with pillows and bedsheets.

Officials said there were 341 blocks in Bengal and each had at least one Kisan Mandi or Karma Tirtha or Patha Sathi.

Nabanna, the state secretariat, has asked every district administration to identify two to three such buildings that can be turned into quarantine centres in case the coronavirus pandemic spreads.

Sources said there were around 200 Kisan Mandis, 175 Karma Tirthas, 65 Patha Sathis and 150 ITIs in the state. These have been set up by the Mamata Banerjee government since coming to power in 2011. Many of the buildings are yet to be used, while portions of some are being used.

Officials in several districts said it was sheer luck that there were so many unutilised buildings that could now be used as isolation centres.