State wants flight ban from 12 countries

In the wake of the new variant, state CM is expected to talk to the PM for stricter flight ban guidelines

Mumbai The Maharashtra government has decided to request the central government to suspend flights from the 12 countries where the new Covid-19 variant Omicron has been detected. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is expected to speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand stricter guidelines for the international travelers and for the timely sharing of information of the passengers coming from the ‘at-risk’ countries.

The meeting of the state cabinet on Monday was chaired by Thackeray from his hospital bed where he talked about the flight ban (HT File)

The meeting of the state cabinet on Monday was chaired by Thackeray from his hospital bed on Monday. The CM is recuperating after a spine surgery. In the 45-minute meeting, the CM directed the state administration to take all precautions to contain the spread of the new variant. Thackeray said that tracing of the passengers coming from the “countries of concern” is a challenge before the administration. “The tracing of the international passengers entering Mumbai or Maharashtra through other states and travelling by road is a question before the administration. The airline operators should share the information about the domestic and international passengers with the authorities. It will help us trace the infected passengers and their high-risk contacts,” Thackeray said in the meeting.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar requested Thackeray to urge the PM for stricter regulations for passengers coming from the countries where the Omicron virus has been reported. Other ministers agreed, to which Thackeray said that he would speak to the PM in the coming days. The state government has already requested the Centre to suspend the flights from those countries.

Transport minister Anil Parab assured that there will be no lockdown imposed because of the Omicron variant. “We are watching the situation closely. There will be clarity next week. We discussed it in the state cabinet and it has been clarified that there is no need to imposing any restrictions because of it,” he said.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said that there is no need to panic as Maharashtra has not found any Omicron patient yet. Environment minister and guardian minister of suburban Mumbai Aaditya Thackeray said that the BMC has started tracing and monitoring the international passengers who have come to Mumbai in the last 10 days. “Around 1000 passengers landed in Mumbai since November 10. The BMC has started collecting information about them. We are doing 7-day institutional quarantine mandatory for the passengers coming from these countries,” he said.

Amid the hospitalisation of the chief minister, the state government has decided to cut short the winter session to five working days. “The government has decided to hold the session in Mumbai after doctors advised Thackkeray to avoid air travel. It will be held on November 22, 23 and 26, 27 and 28. Respecting the demand by the opposition, we will hold a business advisory committee meeting on November 24 to take a call whether to extend it further. We have planned to table 12 bills in the session,” he said.

Leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis expressed his dismay over the government’s decision to cut short the session. “The Thackeray government is scared of facing the opposition on the issues related to the general public. We have demanded to extend it by a few days and hold it in the first week of January,” he said.