As morning walkers begin to resume normal operations, many are said to be demanding the reopening of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). It is believed that the national park sees at least 6,000 visitors on an average day. Keeping this in mind, many are against the decision to reopen the park right now.
Shardul Bajikar who conducts trails at the park believes that this may be risky given that people mostly visit the park in groups, thus making social distancing impossible.
Officials of the SGNP have left the decision to the Forest Department’s Wildlife Division. “Given the crowds the park attracts, it will be difficult to control. The decision will have to be taken very carefully,” a spokesperson for the park said.
Also Read - BMC Shuts Byculla Zoo And Public Parks
The BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) was evidently quite slow with regard to the closure of national parks around the city, taking a decision on the 26th of March when the outbreak was showing signs of spiralling out of control.
While Maharashtra has a total of 1,13,443 cases as of now, Mumbai alone makes up for 60,228 of the cases. Pune is a distant second with 10,876 cases, while Thane has reported 8,332 cases so far.
Around the end of May, 1,007 COVID-19 patients from Mumbai’s Ward GS had successfully recovered from the virus, while more recoveries have taken place since then. Some officials have hoped that the cases will start falling towards the end of June, though it was contingent on the rules and measures adopted by the populace.
It was reported earlier today that 1,328 “missing” COVID-19 deaths were added to Maharashtra’s death toll. This was done after re-verification of cases and deaths.
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