Lifeline Express - a five-bogey hospital on wheels - is all set to provide medical assistance to over 2,000 patients suffering from different diseases during its fortnight-long stay in the district starting February 8.

The train arrived at Bapudham Motihari station on Wednesday.

'Mumbai-based Impact India Foundation had started the free medical-aid project in 1991 with assistance from the Union government and Indian Railways,' said senior assistant superintendent of Bapudham Motihari railway station Dilip Singh.

According to a memorandum of understanding between the Government of India and Impact India Foundation, a well-equipped five AC bogies have been provided by the railways for the project, while the cost incurred over the entire treatment process is borne by leading industry houses of the country under corporate social responsibility for which they set aside two per cent of their benefits, said Gilroy Carreia, a Mumbai-based manager of Mahindra Finance.

He is here because Mahindra & Mahindra is the sponsoring company for the 'on the wheel special medical camp' from February 8 to 23 in Motihari. West Champaran MP Sanjay Jaiswal and East Champaran district magistrate Jitendra Shrivastava would jointly inaugurate the camp, said Carreia.

'Around 2,000 patients suffering from diseases like cleft lip, ear problems and cataract, nearly 1,500 patients suffering from teeth problems and epilepsy would receive free treatment at the Lifeline Express' OPD, said Gilroy Carreia.

They have also started making public announcements on loudspeakers as well as through posters and banners, enabling that maximum number of ailing people get free medical aid, he said.