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Thane civic authority is hiding Covid-19 death figures, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya alleges

According to Somaiya, the corporation is not revealing at least more than 50 deaths which will come out during the reconciliation of the figures.

Updated on: Jun 23, 2020, 18:11:15 IST
Hindustan Times, Thane | By
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Like the Maharashtra state government, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has also been hiding the actual Covid-19 death toll in the city, BJP leader and former MP Kirit Somaiya alleged on Tuesday.

File photo: Healthcare worker check temperature and pulse rate of the residents at Govandi in Mumbai. (Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)
File photo: Healthcare worker check temperature and pulse rate of the residents at Govandi in Mumbai. (Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)

According to Somaiya, the corporation is not revealing at least more than 50 deaths which will come out during the reconciliation of the figures. This figure is not sent to the state government by the corporation, Somaiya alleged.

He claimed that the TMC has shown less death figures in Mumbra where the actual death figure is much more. “The politicos in the city are merely portraying a feel-good image of defeating coronavirus in the city,” Somaiya said.

He met civic commissioner Vijay Singhal to take stock of the situation in Thane city on Tuesday afternoon.

Also read: Delhi’s Covid centre, 10 times bigger than China’s largest, to start this week

“I had asked the civic authority to provide me with the latest figure of Covid-19 infections, though I am not satisfied with the figures given by the authority. Thackeray government had hidden 3,000 deaths out of which they agreed that 1,500 were less after reconciliation. Solapur Municipal Corporation also tried to show 40 fewer deaths on Monday, all this will lead to a greater problem in the state in the coming days. Out of the total deaths hidden by the government, 2,000 are from Mumbai and at least 50 are from Thane city,” he said.

He added that the death toll in Mumbra is much more than what the corporation showed. “The corporation has merely shown 50% of the actual deaths in Mumbra. We have demanded an inquiry into these discrepancies in data. Moreover, patients are sent to private hospital increasingly instead of the government hospitals in Thane leading to profit for private hospitals. There are also technical issues like lack of oxygen supply or ventilators which the city needs to focus on,” he added.

Pravin Darekar, leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council also met the municipal commissioner of Kalyan Dombivli Corporation, Vijay Suryavanshi, on Tuesday.

“The number of cases within KDMC jurisdiction are increasing as many travel as part of essential services to Mumbai and nearby places. Steps to curb this movement or other provisions need to be made for these people to ensure their families are safe and break the chain of infection,” said Darekar. He also visited Shashtri Nagar Civic Hospital and quarantine facility at Tata Amantra on Tuesday. In a special meeting held at Acharya Atre Auditorium, he discussed the steps taken and measures implemented to curb the pandemic within Kalyana and Dombivli areas.

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