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Inspection teams rushed to Guj, TN & Telangana to control Covid-19 spread
Earlier this week, the Centre had sent six Interministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) – two each to Maharashtra and West Bengal, and one each to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh -- for a spot assessment of the situation in the hotspots in the four states.
The Centre is deputing interministerial to three more states -- Gujarat, Telangana and Tamil Nadu -- to probe perceived lapses in efforts to control the coronavirus disease and violations of lockdown regulations, the home ministry said on Friday, amid a bitter row with West Bengal over the alleged targeting of opposition-ruled states .
The ministry said the situation was “especially serious” in major hotspot districts or emerging hotspots like Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat, Hyderabad in Telangana and Chennai in Tamil Nadu besides Thane in Maharashtra, where two teams have already been dispatched.
The Interministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) will focus on a range of issues, including implementation of and compliance with lockdown measures,the preparedness of health infrastructure, safety of health professionals and conditions in relief camps set up for migrant workers and the poor. The teams will be headed by additional secretary rank officers and comprise public health and disaster management specialists.
Earlier this week, the Centre had sent six IMCTs – two each to Maharashtra and West Bengal, and one each to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh -- for a spot assessment of the situation in the hotspots in the four states.
The Centre had a run-in with West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress government, which reluctantly agreed to host the teams; it said that while the states were waging a battle against the coronavirus disease, the Centre was fighting the states.“About 70%-80% of the districts chosen for the Central teams’ visits are from states ruled by opposition parties. Why is no district from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat a part of the list,” the party’s Derek O’Brien, who is a Rajya Sabha member, asked.
The central team overseeing Mumbai-Pune has been asked to expand its inspection to Thane district in Maharashtra as well.
Sharing the feedback sent by the IMCTs that toured Mumbai and Indore, two cities where the number of Covid-19 cases has spiked, home ministry joint secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said: “The Indore team has reported that there are 171 containment zones in the city, of which 20 are very critical”.
The official added that the team visited the hotspots and had a detailed discussion with officials involved in contact tracing and so on. “The team found that there were adequate testing kits, PPE {personel protective equipment}, masks and other safety equipment available. Lockdown is being followed properly and safety of health infrastructure and safety of healthcare workers is being ensured,” Srivastava added.
She said that the Indore team also interacted with farmers, the disabled, traders, non-government organisations, medical colleges, and migrant labourers in camps. The Indore team, Srivastava added, found the government had provided a facility whereby farmers could sell their produce at the minimum support price without visiting farm markets, decongesting the usually crowded markets.
The Mumbai IMCT visited the slums of Dharavi and suggested the installation of portable toilets in the densely populated area to augment community toilets.
Srivastava said the Mumbai team had also suggested arranging institutional quarantine for 2,000 -3,000 people; increased testing capacity and reinforcing the strength of surveillance teams using volunteers.
