Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will inform the Bombay high court on Friday about their decision on using the vacant buildings in PAP (project affected persons) colony at Mahul as treatment and quarantine centres for Covid-19 patients. The centre was to be set-up especially for the inmates of the Arthur Road prison.
Both, the state government and the civic body on Tuesday sought time to take instructions and respond to public interest litigation challenging the decision of the state government to set up treatment and quarantine centre at the PAP Colony.
The PIL filed is by Sharda Tevar, mother of an undertrial prisoner lodged at Arthur Road jail, and a non-governmental organisation, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, which is working along with the homeless, slum dwellers and marginalised communities on housing, food and water rights issues.
The petitioners contended that Chembur is the most unsuitable area in the city to quarantine and treat Covid-19 patients and suspects. Mahul area is not suitable for those with severe respiratory problems, it will be counter-productive to quarantine Covid-19 patients in the area.
Their PIL stated that the persons having Covid-19 already have severely compromised immunities that manifest in severe respiratory illnesses like pneumonia. In this context, sending suspected Covid-19 patients to Mahul would defeat the very purpose of quarantining them, and instead would accelerate their respiratory ailments. It could even prove to be fatal to such patients. “Indeed, others who have been rehabilitated to Mahul in the past have reported a series of severe respiratory ailments like asthma and tuberculosis within a short period of moving to Mahul,” it added.
{{/usCountry}}Their PIL stated that the persons having Covid-19 already have severely compromised immunities that manifest in severe respiratory illnesses like pneumonia. In this context, sending suspected Covid-19 patients to Mahul would defeat the very purpose of quarantining them, and instead would accelerate their respiratory ailments. It could even prove to be fatal to such patients. “Indeed, others who have been rehabilitated to Mahul in the past have reported a series of severe respiratory ailments like asthma and tuberculosis within a short period of moving to Mahul,” it added.
{{/usCountry}}Petitioner’s counsel, advocate Ronita Bector, pointed out to the bench that three judicial forums have declared the PAP Colony to be uninhabitable because of high-level of industrial pollution and the toxic air quality. The high court had in September 2019 restrained the state government from shifting any slum dwellers or project-affected person to the PAP Colony, also known as Eversmile Complex.
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