Back when Shah Rukh Khan did his bit to help contribute to the on-going fight against COVID-19, by giving his Khar Red Chillies office over to the BMC. The office which housed both Shah Rukh and wife Gauri Khan's personal offices has been turned into a 22-bed quarantine centre to help admit patients. However, the space is now lying vacant and useless because of the lack of doctors available to fight the pandemic. Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan Offer Their 4-Storey Personal Office Space Amid COVID-19 Crisis, Twitter Hail The Couple and Trend #SRKOfficeForQuarantine!.

Both SRK and Gauri Khan, who have their offices there, had handed over the space to BMC on April 24, 2020. In fact, SRK's Meer Foundation NGO had also facilitated the space with 22 beds. AT that time, SRK, in his statement, had said, "This crisis is not going to pass in a hurry; it will take its time and its toll on all of us. It will also show us that there isn’t really a choice between looking out for ourselves and looking out for one another." Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Respond Saying 'We Say MyBMC With A Sense Of Ownership And Pride' After BMC Thanks Them For.

And the space remains vacant without any patients or doctors to man it. Recently, it was also reported that another 125-bed facility in Mulund was also not being used because there was a lack of doctors. Surprisingly, this piece of news comes in times when there are reports of a lack of beds for treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Congress leader and Corporator of the area (Khar) Asif Zakaria told Mumbai Mirror, "On one hand there is a severe shortage of beds for COVID patients and even those with other ailments, and on the other hand an entire building

is not being utilised. The BMC must do something about this; rope in private practitioners, get in touch with hospitals, but the facility must be used." He also mentioned how the process of bringing over doctors from Hinduja Hospital in Khar was being delayed due to "bureaucratic red-tapism."

However, H West Ward’s assistant municipal commissioner, Vinayak Vispute, countered Zakaria's claims and had a different tale to tell. "At one stage we were planning to use the facility for the municipal staff that is COVID positive. Also, toilets had to be constructed on each floor of the building. Doctors and nurses from the Khar Hinduja Hospital will report to the facility on Friday," he stated. Shah Rukh Khan or anyone else from his team is yet to respond to this piece of news.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 29, 2020 08:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).