As air pollution bogs down Mumbai for the past couple of months, the state-run Sir J.J. Hospital here has opened a separate OPD ward to provide emergency treatment to patients suffering from respiratory problems, Minister of Medical Education, Hasan Mushrif, said here on Wednesday.

Besides, all medical colleges have also been directed to take suitable measures in this regard with the possibility of a spike in the number of people suffering from respiratory disorders due to the air pollution, Mushrif said.

The hospital will treat such patients in the OPD daily from 8 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., and later in the casualty or emergency wards for treatment of respiratory-related issues.

Mushrif has also asked the concerned authorities to set up a separate Respiratory Disorders Unit and ensure necessary measures at the institutional level for availability of all medicines, masks or equipment and other requirements for such patients at the hospital.

The medical authorities would compile daily data of patients with respiratory ailments and submit them to their higher departments, and in case the number of patients is found to be increasing, more facilities would be created in the hospital to accommodate them, said Mushrif.IANS/VB