Greater Noida CEO to handle Covid-19 crisis after DM is shunted

The Uttar Pradesh government Monday night gave the charge of overseeing the Covid-19 pandemic related work to senior IAS officer Narendra Bhooshan, who is the current

The Uttar Pradesh government Monday night gave the charge of overseeing the Covid-19 pandemic related work to senior IAS officer Narendra Bhooshan, who is the current chief executive officer of the Greater Noida authority.

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Earlier on Monday, incumbent district magistrate BN Singh has been attached with board of revenue office in Lucknow and an inquiry has been initiated against him after chief minister Yogi Adityanath puled him up for his handling of the crisis. The government has also appointed a new district magistrate, Suhas LY, a 2007-batch IAS officer belonging to Karnataka, who took over charge on Tuesday morning.

However, Bhooshan, a 1992-batch IAS officer and the most senior official in Gautam Budh Nagar district, has been given the charge to coordinate among different departments with regard to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The health department requested this on the basis that a senior IAS official will better coordinate with the Noida authority, Greater Noida authority, Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, the police and the district administration to contain the pandemic, officials said.

Bhooshan said, “We will coordinate with all stakeholders, be it government officials, socially active groups such as residents’ welfare associations, apartment owners’ associations, individuals or public, to contain Covid-19 cases in the district.”

The state government has ordered that all district officials function as per the directions of Bhooshan. The state government wants to ensure that Covid-19 infection does not spread further and the nationwide lockdown is adhered to effectively.

At least 38 Covid-19 positive cases have been detected in Noida alone. Adityanath during his review meeting on Monday had said, “We had issued an alert two months ago but the administration did not keep track of all those who were in contact with those who had tested positive. The administration did not act in a timely manner against a company whose employees had spread the infection.”

Adityanath had also said that officials were “passing the buck instead of acting to contain the Covid-19 spread”.