A ward is being created at the Sri Ramachandra Medical College Hospital in Chennai to treat Union minister Murasoli Maran, who is being brought back from the United States on September 7.

The ward will be covered with glass doors to prevent spread of any infection. Arrangements are being made for round-the-clock monitoring of Maran's health, hospital sources said.

He was taken to Methodist Hospital at Houston after being flown from Chennai on November 15, 2002.

Maran underwent a valve replacement surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi in July 2002 and a fungal growth in the replaced valve reportedly led to high fever and chest pain.

He was later admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai on September 23, 2002, and underwent an emergency mitral valve replacement surgery two days later.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi had demanded a probe by the Centre on the treatment that Maran received at AIIMS and Apollo.