PUNE Two days after Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said that the state government will reconsider relaxing Covid curbs in Pune if the local authorities recommend so, Pune mayor Muralidhar Mohol, on Friday, issued a letter to Tope recommending relaxations for Pune city.
In the letter, Mohol has made the case for relief from level 3 restrictions in Pune, pointing to the decreasing positivity rate in the city.
He also mentioned that the 4pm deadline under level 3 is proving to be inconvenient to all and hence, the state government should ease some curbs in the city.
“On behalf of Pune citizens and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), I am demanding relief from restrictions. I have been demanding the same at the Covid review meeting chaired by guardian minister Ajit Pawar every week. He had expressed positivity, but in reality, Pune didn’t get relaxations,” said Mohol in the letter.
He also claimed that the declining positivity rate in Pune indicated that the Covid situation in Pune is under control.
“From the second week of July, positivity rate in Pune has dropped to 3.22% from 5%. For the last 16 months, all Punekars have been following the orders of the state government. Now I request you to provide some relief to Pune,” said Mohol.
{{/usCountry}}“From the second week of July, positivity rate in Pune has dropped to 3.22% from 5%. For the last 16 months, all Punekars have been following the orders of the state government. Now I request you to provide some relief to Pune,” said Mohol.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, Pune divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao had claimed that the administration would recommend relaxations in PMC and PCMC at the weekly Covid review meeting. The meeting, which was to be held on Saturday, has now been postponed to Sunday.
City units of congress and NCP have also taken a pro relaxation stand. The city chiefs of both parties have expressed the view that relaxations can be given in PMC limits as the Covid caseload in the city has decreased.
Pune city Congress chief Ramesh Bagwe said that there is no harm in easing some curbs where Covid numbers have reduced. “The matter is not only of traders. It’s about the small business operators who rely on the market economy of the city. We are of the opinion that strict restrictions should be in place where Covid cases are still high. But, like in Pune city, where cases have gone down, timings of shops should be extended. I would request the guardian minister to consider this factor,” said Ramesh Bagwe, president, Pune city-district Congress committee.
Earlier, NCP city chief Prashant Jagtap had also backed demands of relief from Covid-induced curbs in Pune. “The daily caseload in Pune city has decreased. As NCP workers we would surely request the guardian minister to give some relaxations to Pune city. The collective Covid numbers in the district are high, but Pune city has been recording fewer numbers. In Mumbai, there is no rural area. Because of the rural parts, collective numbers of Pune districts are higher,” said Jagtap.