Iqbal Chahal who recently took over as the BMC Chief, replacing Praveen Pardeshi, in a statement to the media, assured that the situation in Mumbai is likely to improve by the end of this month. Chahal had earlier visited Dharavi to get an idea of the situation, checking if the areas were sealed properly, if people were getting food packets and if the community toilets were disinfected adequately. Speaking about paramilitary forces and if they are to enter Dharavi, Chahal refuted the rumours stating that it would be a foolish decision, considering that the forces could get the virus too.
Iqbal Chahal further stated that he plans to increase the doubling rate of Mumbai from 10 days to 20 days. He spoke of better testing, hospital beds, quarantine centres adding that 50,000 new beds will be added to the already existing ones. Also, managing containment zones is the need of the hour considering that the virus is extremely contagious in nature.
Furthermore, Chahal announced that he is to sit down with the CM Uddhav Thackeray soon to devise a better plan to improve contact tracing and to decide on a final testing protocol adding that Mumbai is to follow the centre’s advice on testing protocols which tests asymptomatic patients only if they are exposed to high-risk contacts. With the controversy around the bodies lying around the hospital in Sion, Chahal stated that such instances are intolerable and must completely be avoided in the future. Also speaking of the pre-monsoon work, Chahal announced that flood-prone spots like the Hindmata junction, railway tracks, the love grove pumping station in Worli and Milan subway will be worked on. Chahal assured that a conference with the railway ministers is underway to ascertain that trains do not stop functioning during this period, adding that tree pruning must also be observed to avoid accidents.
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