Navi Mumbai to increase Covid-19 testing ahead of festive season

The artificial ponds which were 132 last year have been increased to 156 this year in order to make sure that there is not much crowding at one place. There were 132 applications for the pandals this year of which 120 were granted permission while there were 90 applications last year of which 84 were granted permission.

Ahead of Ganeshotsav, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has increased random testing in Navi Mumbai especially at the railway stations. Currently, around 500 random antigen tests are being conducted at railway stations. The corporation plans to conduct similar random tests at busy markets, pandals and immersion sites as well.

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation plans to conduct random tests at busy markets, pandals and immersion sites as well. (HT PHOTO.)

Pramod Patil, medical health officer, NMMC, said, “A total of 7,000 Rapid Antigen Tests and around 2,000 RT-PCR tests are conducted daily. This year during the festival, we have to fight Malaria, Dengue as well as Covid-19. So along with making sure that the Covid-19 norms are followed, we also need to ensure preventive measures for dengue and malaria. Regular checking of stagnant water and fogging at the pandal areas also needs to be done.”

Depending on the availability of vaccines, the corporation also plans to have vaccination drive at the pandals. “If there is enough supply, we will have vaccination drives at whichever pandals possible. We will also be putting up hoardings and signages regarding Covid-19 at the pandals. We had a joint meeting with the police wherein we have informed them as well about the actions they should take against people not following the Covid-19 norms,” Assistant Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Kakade said.

The Corporation also plans to have an arrangement wherein the residents not willing to step out for immersion can handover the idol to the designated persons visiting their area and they would further immerse it.

The artificial ponds which were 132 last year have been increased to 156 this year in order to make sure that there is not much crowding at one place. There have been 132 applications for the pandals this year of which 120 were granted permission while there were 90 applications last year of which 84 were granted permission.

“Every pandal should use only the one fourth of the road and there should be area left for the people to travel. The pandals should not be blocking any footpath or roadway. Such applications which can create blockage to the movement of public, have been rejected and in some cases, people have made double applications thinking that if one is rejected, another might be considered,” an official from NMMC said.

Meanwhile, the cases of not wearing masks and not maintaining social distancing have also increased, ahead of the festival. In the month of August, around 1272 people were fined for not wearing masks and a total of ₹6.36 lakh was collected, 2075 were fined for not maintaining social distancing and fined ₹4.15 lakh.