Siliguri subdivisional administration decided to set up a safe home for Covid-19 patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms at the indoor stadium in the city’s Deshbandhupara amid resident protests on Thursday.

Residents came near the stadium to urge the administration to rethink its decision for the health of people living nearby. The police cordoned the area to prevent a crowd in front of the stadium’s entrance and used the public address system to ask protesters to leave.

SDO Sumanta Sahay, who along with health and Siliguri Municipal Corporation officials, met protesters, said the problem was resolved. “People have understood the need for a safe home in the city,” he said. “The stadium will be used as a 100-bed safe home before which we will do some civic work.”

Existing safe homes in Siliguri subdivision are away from the city at Hatighisa (Naxalbari block) and Limbutari (Phansidewa block).

A source in the administration said the indoor stadium, being in the city, was zeroed in as a safe home for the convenience of Covid-19 patients in Siliguri who are not so ill as to warrant hospitalisation and don’t have facilities to stay in home isolation. “Or else, any patient (from Siliguri city) wanting to stay in a safe home has to travel at least 30km or more to reach safe homes in Naxalbari and Phansidewa.”

In and around Siliguri, the state health department plans to add around 500 more beds in safe homes for Covid-19 patients. “We are trying to identify new buildings for safe homes. As of now, there are 170 beds in existing safe homes in Siliguri,” said Sushanta Roy, the state-appointed officer on special duty (OSD) for Covid-19 in north Bengal.