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Central team visits hotspot in Pune, takes review of city’s response to Covid-19
IMCT undertook a detailed assessment of Pune’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic by visiting the Bhavani peth hotspot, quarantine and isolation centres and shelter homes for migrants besides interacting with top officials from various departments
An inter-ministerial Central team (IMCT) undertook a detailed assessment of Pune’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic by visiting the Bhavani peth hotspot, quarantine and isolation centres and shelter homes for migrants besides interacting with top officials from various departments.
Head by Sanjay Malhotra, additional secretary, ministry of power, the team included Dr PK Sen, additional director general, directorate general of health services (Dte GHS); Dr Pawan Kumar Singh, joint advisor, national disaster management authority (NDMA); Dr Ashish V Gawai, deputy secretary, ministry of health and family welfare and Karmvir Singh, director, department of food and public distribution.
Tasked with undertaking an assessment of ‘compliance and implementation’ of lockdown measures as per guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the team took a comprehensive review of the district administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic in the city.
The team which arrived on a two-day visit on Monday took a review meeting with the Pune district administration and other governing agencies and visited the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) besides some of the high stress containment areas such as Bhawani Peth.
Pune, as of April 21, has had 53 Covid-19 related deaths and is the second biggest hotspot in Maharashtra next to Mumbai.
Pune district Collector Naval Kishore Ram said the team has extended support, given numerous suggestions with regards to testing and outreach and checked the monitoring and surveillance system in Pune district.
“They are doing a detailed study of Pune district in terms of all the arrangements, surveillance systems and other agencies working against the spread of the Sars-Cov-2 virus which causes the Covid-19 disease. Today (Monday) they visited one of the hotspots-- the Bhavani peth area-- and on Wednesday they will be going to Baramati,” added Ram.
Pune municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said the team checked various civic facilities such as flu centres, swab centres, shelter homes and the smart control room which is monitoring the overall work.
“The team was with us from 10am to 3pm. Their main aim was to check the ground reality; especially home survey,” he said. At Bhavani peth, the team interacted with the residents there, asking them about how this survey was being conducted and what forms were being filled by them. Micro details like first visit results, second visit details and how the virus spread in the area was discussed, said Gaikwad.
The team visited the hospitals where positive patients were quarantined and an isolation centre at Sinhgad College. Shelter homes at civic schools where migrant workers and homeless people have been lodged were examined and the people there spoken to. The team visited mobile clinics and asked about the medicines that were being given and the number of patients who were visiting.
After their Pune visit, the team proceeded to Pimpri-Chinchwad.
According to the order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the IMCT’s scope of assessment includes supply of essential commodities, social distancing measures, preparedness of health infrastructure, hospital facilities and sample statistics in the districts, safety of health professionals and availability of test kits, personal protective equipment kits, and condition of relief camps for labour and poor people.
Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar briefed the central team during his review meeting on Monday and provided an overview of the steps taken by the administration to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic in Pune.
Pune police commissioner K Venkatesham also briefed the team about initiatives and action by the police during the lockdown and measures taken to create awareness among the residents.
Details about the police presence in the Pimpri Chinchwad industrial township and the situation of industries and IT companies during the lockdown were provided by Pimpri-Chinchwad police commissioner Sandeep Bishnoi.
The Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal commissioners, Shekhar Gaikwad and Shrawan Hardikar respectively, were also present at this meeting.