A 50-year old Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) official, H Gangadharaih, posted as the nodal officer at the COVID Care Centre (CCC) that has been set up at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), succumbed to a heart attack while on duty on Saturday. Gangadharaih collapsed within the facility and was declared dead by doctors present there.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad confirmed the incident and condoled his death.
In a tweet, Prasad said, “I am deeply saddened & disturbed at the sudden demise of my younger colleague Gangadariah, KAS Probationary AC of 2015 batch, due to heart attack while on Covid duty at BIEC. May his soul rest in peace. I pray God to give strength to his family to bear this loss (sic).”
I am deeply saddened & disturbed at the sudden demise of my younger colleague Gangadariah, KAS Probationary AC of 2015 batch, due to heart attack while on Covid duty at BIEC. May his soul rest in peace. I pray God to give strength to his family to bear this loss. pic.twitter.com/QpPxKBqsmq
— N. Manjunatha Prasad,IAS (@BBMPCOMM) August 8, 2020
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa also expressed shock after learning about Gangadharaih's death and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakhs to his family. The Chief Minister has also promised a government job for one of Gangadharaih's family members. A statement from the Chief Minister's office said that his last rites will be performed with full state honours.
"The Chief Minister has announced Rs 25 lakh as ex-gratia from Chief Minister's Relief Fund and a government job for a family member of Gangadharaiah and instructed that his last rites be performed with full state honours," the Chief Minister’s office said in a statement.
The COVID Care Centre set up at BIEC is the largest makeshift facility readied in the country in wake of the pandemic. While the facility was earlier announced to be made ready by mid-July, it was delayed and inaugurated on July 28.
It was initially planned to have 10,100 beds for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients, but the facility has been opened with 1,536 beds. While it was said the capacity of the facility will be increased gradually as the cases shoot up, their demand has fallen with many patients opting for home isolation.