News Analysis India

Tag: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

  • Hoarding collapse: How nod for billboard given by police instead of BMC? asks Kirit Somaiya

    Mumbai: A day after a hoarding collapse in Mumbai killed 14 persons and injured several others, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya asked how the permission for erecting the billboard was given by a police officer when the city civic body is the authority for it. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the former MP also claimed permissions for the hoarding and a petrol pump (where the billboard collapsed) were given when Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister of Maharashtra.

    Had the then director general of police been strict, such a hoarding would not have come up, he said.

    Somaiya also said the permission on paper was given for a 40 feet hoarding whereas the billboard which collapsed was 120 feet tall. The billboard fell at a petrol pump in Ghatkopar during dust storms and unseasonal rains that lashed Mumbai on Monday, killing 14 persons and injuring 74. AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther States “An ACP of railway police, which is part of the Maharashtra state police force, gave permission for the erection of the hoarding on December 7, 2021. How can a police officer give such permission when such rights lie with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)? The permission on paper was for a 40 feet hoarding, but in reality, it was 120 feet high,” Somaiya said. “I believe that there are similar 400 hoardings in various parts of Mumbai, which are exceeding their size limits and standing on a weak foundation like the one in Ghatkopar,” he said. Somaiya said he has requested Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis to get such dangerous hoardings removed across Mumbai immediately. The land on which the petrol pump and the hoarding came up was given to the railway police wing of the Maharashtra Police, he said.

    It was then handed over to the Police Welfare Fund, Somaiya said, adding that of the total size of the land, around 40,000 square feet plot was given to some institution and later reserved for petrol pump.

    “After the fuel station came up, then ACP (Admin) Shahaji Nikam of railway police gave permission for the erection of the advertisement hoarding near it. It was illegal, but nobody took it up,” he claimed.

    The fuel station received permission on January 30, 2020, the BJP leader said.

    “It was run by Commissioner of Police Mumbai Railway Kalyan Nidhi Sanstha, but its operations and staff management were with the Lords Mark Industries Pvt Ltd. The monthly rent of the fuel station was Rs 16,97,440,” he said.

    Somaiya said he tried to find out details of the ownership of Lords Mark Industries, but its owners changed several times in the last couple of years.

    “All the permissions for the fuel station and hoardings were given when Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister of Maharashtra. But I am not keen on politicising the issue. The focus should be on Bhavesh Bhinde of the Ego Media Pvt Ltd, the advertising agency responsible for erecting the hoarding near the fuel station and the police officials who gave permissions,” he said.

    “Had the then director general of police been strict, such hoarding would not have come up,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra on Tuesday posted a clip on his X handle showing the hoarding collapsing and said such an incident was unacceptable.

    “And we’re a city trying to transform itself into a modern metropolis. CM Shinde has ordered a probe into all hoardings. Stringent rules must follow,” he added.

    A case has been registered against Bhavesh Bhinde and others for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code at Pant Nagar police station, an official earlier said.

    The BMC on Monday issued a notice to the advertisement agency for installing the hoarding that collapsed on the petrol pump during the gusty winds.

    The Assistant Police Commissioner (Admin) had given permission for erecting four hoardings on behalf of the Commissioner of Railway Police, Mumbai, including the one which collapsed on Monday, but no official permission or NOC was obtained from the BMC, as per a civic official.

  • Seven suspected measles deaths, 164 cases reported in Mumbai since September: Civic body

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Seven suspected measles deaths and 164 cases of the viral infection have been reported in Mumbai since its outbreak in September, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said.

    With 184 new cases having symptoms of fever and rashes on the body, the number of suspected measles cases in the city rose to 1,263, and 647 of these cases included children in the age group of 1 to 4 years, the BMC said in a release on Wednesday.

    The number of patients admitted in hospitals due to measles infection rose to 80, it said, adding that 12 new patients were admitted on Wednesday. On Monday, a one-year-old boy died of measles.

    The toddler from the Null Bazar area was undergoing treatment at the BMC-run Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokli since last week, a civic official said on Tuesday.

    The civic body in its bulletin said though the city witnessed seven suspected deaths due to measles infection, the exact reason behind their death will be confirmed only after a review committee gives its report.

    The latest outbreak of measles is spread across eight civic wards in the city and the highest number of cases are from M-East ward, which includes Govandi and surrounding areas, it said.

    As per the release, the civic body has set up isolation wards for patients with mild and severe symptoms of measles in various hospitals. The highest 83 beds are made available in the Kasturba Hospital, apart from five ventilators.

    Civic officials have appealed to parents to get children in the 9-16 age group vaccinated against the disease. In measles, the child gets fever, cold, cough and red rashes on the body.

    Complications from this disease can be serious in children who are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated, a BMC release earlier said.

    The Union Health Ministry last week said it has deputed a high-level multi-disciplinary team to Mumbai to take stock of the upsurge of measles cases in the city.

    The team will assist the state health authorities in instituting public health measures and facilitate the operationalisation of requisite control and containment measures, it had said.

    MUMBAI: Seven suspected measles deaths and 164 cases of the viral infection have been reported in Mumbai since its outbreak in September, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said.

    With 184 new cases having symptoms of fever and rashes on the body, the number of suspected measles cases in the city rose to 1,263, and 647 of these cases included children in the age group of 1 to 4 years, the BMC said in a release on Wednesday.

    The number of patients admitted in hospitals due to measles infection rose to 80, it said, adding that 12 new patients were admitted on Wednesday. On Monday, a one-year-old boy died of measles.

    The toddler from the Null Bazar area was undergoing treatment at the BMC-run Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokli since last week, a civic official said on Tuesday.

    The civic body in its bulletin said though the city witnessed seven suspected deaths due to measles infection, the exact reason behind their death will be confirmed only after a review committee gives its report.

    The latest outbreak of measles is spread across eight civic wards in the city and the highest number of cases are from M-East ward, which includes Govandi and surrounding areas, it said.

    As per the release, the civic body has set up isolation wards for patients with mild and severe symptoms of measles in various hospitals. The highest 83 beds are made available in the Kasturba Hospital, apart from five ventilators.

    Civic officials have appealed to parents to get children in the 9-16 age group vaccinated against the disease. In measles, the child gets fever, cold, cough and red rashes on the body.

    Complications from this disease can be serious in children who are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated, a BMC release earlier said.

    The Union Health Ministry last week said it has deputed a high-level multi-disciplinary team to Mumbai to take stock of the upsurge of measles cases in the city.

    The team will assist the state health authorities in instituting public health measures and facilitate the operationalisation of requisite control and containment measures, it had said.

  • Will not form alliance with Shiv Sena in future: BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar on Tuesday said his party will not form an alliance with the Shiv Sena — its former ally — in future. Speaking during his party’s ‘Poll Khol’ campaign against the Shiv Sena which controls the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), he said that the BJP will now expose the Sena’s “corruption” in the civic body.

    “BJP will not forge any alliance in future with Shiv Sena to attain power. We are here now to expose Sena’s corrupt practices in BMC,” Mungantiwar said. Shiv Sena and BJP, allies for decades, fell out over the chief minister’s post after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections.

  • Bombay HC asks Centre to approve BMC’s plan to re-vaccinate victims of fake inoculation camps

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Union government to approve the proposed plan of action of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to re-vaccinate those citizens, who had fallen victim to several fake anti-coronavirus vaccination camps in different parts of the city a few months ago.

    A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni directed the Centre to approve the Mumbai civic body’s plan of action, “with or without modifications, within seven days” from now.

    The directions came after senior counsel Anil Sakhre, who appeared for the BMC, told the HC that it had re-vaccinated 161 of the 2,053 people, who had fallen victim to such fake camps.

    Sakhre had told the high court earlier this month that the victims had been administered saline water instead of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine.

    “Of the 391 cases at Hiranandani in Kandivali, 363 people were traced and 161 of them were vaccinated. We are in the process of getting the remaining of the total 2,053 victims re-registered on the CoWin portal so that they can be re-vaccinated correctly,” Sakhre told the court.

    He submitted the civic body’s plan of action that proposed, among other things, de-registering all such victims from the CoWin portal so that they can re-register on the portal afresh and get the correct vaccine administered.

    Sakhre said that the victims could not get re-registered without the Centre’s approval.

    At this, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, who appeared for the Union government, told the high court that although de-registeration from the portal was not possible presently, the Centre will look into it.

    “For the time being, the victims can re-register on the portal for vaccination,” Singh said.

    The HC then said that the Centre should have no objection to looking into the BMC’s plan.

    “Consider BMC’s proposed plan of action and do the needful. The victims can perhaps be granted fresh registration (on the CoWin portal) with some remarks identifying them for re-vaccination,” the HC said.

    The court also granted additional 30 days to the Mumbai police to complete its probe into the incident of one such fake vaccination camps held in a housing society in the Kandivali area in the city.

    State’s counsel Aruna Pai had earlier told the HC that the first FIR in the fake vaccination camps was registered in May this year at Kandivali police station.

    She had said earlier this month that a chargesheet was likely to be filed in the kandivali case soon.

    On Friday, Pai told the HC that while the police’s probe into the Kandivali FIR was complete, it was yet to file a charge sheet since they were waiting for a “chemical analysis report” from the Haffkine Institute.

    “No one involved in the scam should be let off. We direct the Haffkine Institute to provide the chemical analysis report to police as soon as possible,” the high court said.

    “We grant the investigating officer 30 days as requested to complete the probe and place on record the probe report before this court,” it said.

    The high court will continue hearing the plea on August 30.

  • BMC claims monoclonal antibodies, given to Trump, successful in over 200 coronavirus patients

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Over 200 coronavirus patients at a civic hospital who were administered monoclonal antibodies showed a remarkable recovery following the treatment, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Monday.

    Monoclonal antibodies made news as a treatment for COVID-19 when they were given to then US President Donald Trump in November last year after he tested positive for the disease on the election campaign trail.

    It was described as an “experimental antibody cocktail” that was “one of the most promising candidates”.

    The monoclonal antibodies treatment has proved successful for over 200 COVID-19 patients at the civic body’s Seven Hills Hospital at Andheri in western suburbs, the BMC claimed in a release.

    After administering the cocktail, composed of Casirivimab and Imdevimab, cleared for use in mild to moderate cases of coronavirus in high-risk patients, only 0.5 per cent patients needed oxygen and the mortality rate was also reduced by 70 per cent, the release said.

    The earlier requirement of 13 to 14 days of hospitalisation was also reduced to 5 to 6 days after the cocktail was given, it said.

    The cocktail therapy is succeeding against the backdrop of the anticipated third wave of coronavirus, the BMC said, terming the “successful experimentation” with this drug combination a “respite” ahead of the third wave.

    “Trump was given the same cocktail of drugs after he contracted coronavirus. Since then, his health has improved significantly,” the BMC claimed.

    In India, the drugs were registered with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization on May 10, 2021, and have been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India, the BMC said.

    A total of 212 COVID-19 patients were given this cocktail through saline at the Seven Hills Hospital.

    Conclusions have been reached after the treatment of 199 patients, of which there were 101 patients in the 18-45 years age group, 45 patients in the 45-59 years age group and 53 patients above 60 years.

    “Of the 199 patients, 74 have at least one co-morbidity,” the BMC said.

    All the 199 patients were in the mild to moderate infection group, it added.

    At the start of treatment, 179 had a fever, while 158 had a cough with or without fever.

    Four patients were on oxygen support.

    It was noticed that fever subsided within 48 hours after giving the cocktail medicine, the BMC claimed.

    “Out of 199, only one person had to be supplied with oxygen. This proportion is only 0.5 per cent. It is a great relief, considering the amount of oxygen that was needed earlier for coronavirus patients,” the BMC said.

    In the first and second waves, at least 20 per cent of the patients had to be given oxygen and five per cent of patients had to undergo intensive care (ICU) treatment, it said.

    The civic body said monoclonal antibody cocktails can be given to patients above 12 years of age who weigh at least 40 kg.

    No side effects have been reported in any of the patients, the BMC said, adding the death toll has also dropped by a staggering 70 per cent.

    “This cocktail can be given to patients having diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, asthma and other acute respiratory diseases, high blood pressure, sickle cell, cerebral palsy etc,” the BMC said.

    This treatment is also financially beneficial to the patients as there is no need for oxygen supply and other expensive medications, avoiding the need for hospitalization, it said.

    “Considering the medical manpower, it is possible to provide treatment through OPD and as the duration of hospital stay of the patient is reduced, it will also help in relieving the work stress on doctors,” the BMC claimed.

  • All is not well in MVA? Congress wants to go solo in BMC polls, Sena praises Amit Shah

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Congress leaders on Monday reiterated their demand to contest the Mumbai civic elections, due early next year, independently.

    The Congress is part of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra along with the NCP.

    AICC general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra HK Patil on Monday held talks with former ministers, ex-chief ministers, and leaders who contested the 2019 Assembly polls on the Congress ticket to discuss the preparations for the elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) controlled by the Shiv Sena.

    A senior Congress leader said the party leaders who had contested the last Lok Sabha elections didn’t turn up at the meeting.

    “Patil heard the views of leaders who said the Congress should contest alone as it is a local boy election and workers need to be accommodated. He urged the Mumbai unit and all leaders to work unitedly and ensure that the party wins maximum seats,” the leader said.

    He said Patil held discussions with office-bearers on how to strengthen the Congress in the Konkan region, from Palghar to Sindhudurg, the home turf of BJP MP and Union minister Narayan Rane.

    Elections to ten municipal corporations including Mumbai, 27 Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samities in their areas are due early next year.

    In the 2017 BMC elections, the BJP had made giant strides by giving a tough fight to the Sena which scraped through to retain the civic body.

    The Shiv Sena on Monday welcomed the Centre’s decision to create the cooperation ministry saying Home Minister Amit Shah, who has been given the additional charge of the new portfolio, will do a “good job” as he had been part of the cooperative movement in Gujarat.

    An editorial in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ also said that there is not much difference in the field of politics and the cooperative sector, and that “everything happens as per convenience”.

    Notably, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who is the architect of the Sena-headed Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, on Sunday said the Centre cannot interfere in the state’s cooperative sector.

    “If Amit Shah has decided to develop and expand the cooperative sector then there is no need to be disturbed. Attempts are being made to create fear among people that Shah will dig out old cases of leaders of the Congress and NCP and launch inquiries and will form a government in Maharashtra through ‘cooperation’. However, saying so is like defaming Shah,” the editorial said.

    The Sena said Shah will do a good job as he had worked as an “activist in the cooperative movement in Gujarat before joining politics”.

    “There is not much difference in the field of politics and the cooperative sector in terms of qualities like good and bad, true and false, moral and immoral. Everything happens as per convenience. Finally, everyone is the same in politics,” it said.

    The Central government recently carved out a new ministry for cooperation, which earlier was a small department in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

    Amit Shah on Saturday said the government is determined to make cooperatives and all cooperative institutions more empowered.

  • COVID-19: Maharashtra sees 974 deaths, 34,389 new cases; Mumbai witnesses lowest tests in May

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Sunday reported 974 deaths due to COVID-19, taking the toll to 81,486 while the number of fresh cases at 34,389 remained below 40,000 for the third consecutive day.

    The overall caseload in Maharashtra has reached 53,78,452, the state health department said.

    Of the 974 fatalities, 415 deaths had occurred in the last 48 hours, it added.

    A total of 59,318 patients were discharged during the day, raising the number of recoveries so far in Maharashtra to 48,26,371 which has left the state with 4,68,109 active cases while the recovery rate stood at 89.74 per cent, it said.

    With 2,64,587 new tests, the total number of samples tested so far in Maharashtra has risen to 3,11,03,991, the department said in a release.

    Currently, 34 91,981 people are in home quarantine and 28,398 are in institutional quarantine in Maharashtra.

    Mumbai city reported 1,535 new cases and 60 deaths.

    The Mumbai division saw 4,431 new infections and 152 deaths, taking the overall count of cases to 14,83,823, including 6,87,830 in Mumbai city.

    The overall death toll in the Mumbai division now stands at 25,788, the department said.

    The Nashik division reported 5,968 new cases including 1,022 in Nashik city, while the Pune division added 9,969 infections, including 1,359 in Pune city.

    The Kolhapur division saw 3,937 fresh cases, Aurangabad division 1,587, Latur division 2,119, Akola division 3,754.

    The Nagpur division recorded 2,624 new cases, including 734 infections in Nagpur city, the release said.

    Maharashtra’s COVID-19 tally is: Positive cases 53,78,452, deaths 81,486, recoveries 48,26,371, active cases 4,68,109, total tests 3,11,03,991, tests today 2,64,587.

    Meanwhile, Mumbai on Sunday reported 1,544 fresh coronavirus positive cases following testing of 22,430 samples, the lowest such number so far this month, the city civic body said.

    A total of 60 patients died, taking the overall count of COVID-19 fatalities in Mumbai to 14,260, it said.

    Mumbai’s tally of cases now stands at 6,88,696.

    On Saturday, Mumbai reported 1,447 coronavirus positive cases after 24,896 samples were tested.

    With 22,430 new tests, the total number of samples tested so far in Mumbai has risen to 58,98,605, as per the update given by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

    The number of daily fatalities in Mumbai remained more or less the same.

    Mumbai’s death count remained in the range of 51 to 90 so far this month, it said.

    The number of recovered patients outnumbered the number of daily cases on Sunday.

    A total of 2,438 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the count of recoveries to 6,36,753, it said, adding Mumbai’s case recovery rate now stands at 92 per cent.

    The number of active cases in the financial capital has dipped to 35,702, as per the BMC.

    Mumbai had reported the highest 11,163 infections in a day on April 4.

    At 90, the city had seen the highest number of fatalities in a day during the second wave on May 1 this year.

    As per the BMC, Mumbai’s average growth rate of COVID-19 cases for the period between April May 9 to May 15 is 0.29 per cent, while the doubling rate of cases is 231 days.

    Mumbai is left with 86 active containment zones located in slums and chawls, while the number of sealed buildings dipped to 339.

  • Amid slow vaccination drive, Maharashtra looks to import jabs to prevent third COVID wave

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has been asked to explore the possibility of global procurement of COVID-19 vaccines to ensure efficient inoculation, Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray said on Monday.

    In a series of tweets, he said work was also on to ensure those not well-versed with technology or those who are unable to operate the CoWin app get access to vaccines in time.

    “Looking at the need for adequate vaccines to ensure that vaccination is swift & efficient, after discussing the issue with CM Uddhav Thackeray ji, as guardian minister of Mumbai, we have asked @mybmc to explore possibilities of global procurement of vaccines,” he tweeted.

    “Our efforts to increase vaccination centres are constantly on going and the @mybmc shall be having a centre in every municipal ward, along with a drive in vaccination centre across all zones of Mumbai, on my humble request to @mayor_mumbai @KishoriPednekar ji and MC Chahal ji,” Thackeray said in another tweet.

    The Worli MLA said BMC, on Monday, issued guidelines on housing societies partnering with hospitals for inoculation within society complexes.

    The city on Monday recorded a steep drop in new coronavirus cases at 1,794, the lowest single-day count in nearly two months, while 74 patients succumbed to the infection, the city civic body said.

    With the addition of 1,794 new coronavirus infections and 74 fresh fatalities, the financial capital’s cumulative caseload rose to 6,78,269 and the toll to 13,891, according to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) updated data.

    After a gap of 54 days, Mumbai has logged less than 2,000 COVID-19 cases in a day.

    Earlier on March 16, the metropolis had witnessed 1,922 new cases.

    Also, for the 10th day in a row, Mumbai’s daily COVID-19 case count remained below the 4,000-mark though the number of fatalities has fluctuated between 62 and 90 during the period.

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    Fewer coronavirus tests over the weekend could have led to a significant drop in the number of new infections.

    According to the BMC, 23,061 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the number of samples examined so far to 57,33,431.

    Mumbai reported 609 less new infections, but half a dozen more fatalities as compared to Sunday, when it had reported 2,403 cases and 68 fatalities.

    As per the BMC, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Mumbai has gone down to 45,534.

    In the last 24 hours, 3,580 patients were discharged from hospitals, pushing the number of recovered cases to 6,16,998, according to the BMC data.

    Mumbai’s COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 91 per cent.

    As per the BMC, the city’s average growth rate of COVID-19 cases for the period May 3 and May 9 was 0.41 per cent, while the case doubling rate was 163 days.

    According to the civic body, Mumbai has 87 active containment zones in slums and ‘chawls’ (old row tenements), while 493 buildings have been sealed after a certain number of their residents tested positive for coronavirus.

    The number of sealed buildings has gone down below 500 after a gap of more than a month.

    Mumbai had reported the highest-ever 11,163 new COVID-19 cases on April 4, whereas during the second wave the highest single-day fatalities – at 90- were recorded on May 1, 2021.

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    Mumbai has been registering a steady drop in daily cases, earning praise from the Supreme Court for its COVID-19 management.

    Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court has permitted Biovet Private Limited, an associate company of Bharat Biotech, to take possession of a fully operational and ready-to-use vaccine manufacturing plant on a 12-hectare plot in Pune to produce Covaxin.

    Bharat Biotech produces Covaxin, a vaccine against COVID-19.

    A division bench of Justices K K Tated and N R Borkar on May 6 heard an application filed by Karnataka’s Biovet Private Limited seeking direction to the Maharashtra government to hand over possession of the manufacturing unit at Manjari Khurd village in Pune.

    The unit was being used by Intervet India Pvt Ltd, a multinational and subsidiary of Merck & Co, after land was granted to it in 1973 to manufacture vaccine for Foot and Mouth Disease.

    Intervet is exiting business operations in India and entered into an agreement with Biovet to transfer the land and manufacturing unit to the latter.

    When Biovet sought the government’s approval for the transfer, the deputy conservator of forests (Pune division) pointed out that it was a reserved forest and the initial 1973 grant itself was bad.

    Biovet then approached HC in challenge and, in an interim application, also sought direction to the government to grant it licences and permissions to enable the manufacture of vaccine for Foot Mouth Disease as well as Covaxin.

    RD Soni, appearing for Biovet, argued that the unit and machinery was lying idle due to delay in handing over possession of the land.

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    He also told the court the company would not claim any equity in respect to the land in question.

    The company also submitted an undertaking stating it would use the unit to manufacture Covaxin.

    Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni told the court the Maharashtra government had no objection if the company used the unit for manufacturing lifesaving vaccines, including Covaxin, but it should not claim any right, title and interest in future.

    Kumbhakoni further told the court if the company filed applications seeking permissions, the state government shall consider the same expeditiously.

    The HC said considering the COVID-19 situation, the concerned authorities are directed to handover peaceful possession of the ready-to-use BSL-3 vaccine manufacturing facility.

    “The respondent (state government) is directed to grant appropriate licences/permissions/NOCs to the applicant (Biovet) in a time-bound manner to enable manufacture of the Food and Mouth Disease vaccine, Covaxin and other life saving vaccines,” the HC said.

  • BMC bed management plan: Home check-up before hospital admission

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Symptomatic COVID-19 patients will be admitted in hospitals in Mumbai only after they are medically examined at home, civic chief IS Chahal said on Friday.

    A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation release said ward level war rooms set up to tackle the outbreak will coordinate the process of getting such patients examined at home.

    Chahal directed officials to form at least 10 medical teams in each ward to carry out this new bed allotment and management exercise, which is slated to begin from Sunday.

    The home visits to examine symptomatic patients will take place between 7am and 11pm, while those needing attention urgently in hours other than these can approach the jumbo COVID centres, the BMC release said.

    “The patient will be kept on waiting till the time a bed gets available in few hours, if the type of bed prescribed by a medical team will be unavailable,” the release added.

  • Maharashtra crisis: Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital to be fully dedicated COVID-19 facility; migrant exodus continues

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Mumbai civic body has decided to convert the Jaslok Hospital here into a dedicated facility only for COVID-19 patients in the wake of a huge spike in cases of the viral infection in the city.

    According to a circular issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday, the Jaslok Hospital will no longer admit non-COVID-19 patients and instructions to this effect have been issued to the hospital’s management.

    It is the first prominent private hospital to be declared as a dedicated COVID-19 facility in the city since the second wave of the coronavirus here, BMC sources said.

    The civic body has directed the hospital to discharge all stable patients, admitted in its non-COVID-19 wards, who do not require tertiary care.

    The hospital has also been asked to transfer the non-COVID-19 patients requiring tertiary care to nearby facilities within 48 hours.

    “All patients admitted for elective surgeries to be discharged by postponing the elective surgeries,” reads the BMC’s order.

    According to the BMC, the hospital was treating COVID-19 patients with advanced critical care since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

    On Wednesday, Mumbai recorded 9,925 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 5,44,942, while 54 more patients succumbed to the infection, according to the civic body.

    Meanwhile, amid fears of a complete lockdown in Maharashtra, a heavy rush of passengers was witnessed at Mumbai’s Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) for boarding trains on Thursday.

    The Railway administration, including Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP), and local police, however, managed to control the crowd in coordination with ticket checking staff and only valid ticket holders were allowed to enter the station.

    According to the Railway Administration, some people tried to enter the railway station with fake stickers and false identity cards but Railway and police staff stopped them from entering the station and boarding trains by checking their tickets and ID cards before their entry to Terminus building.

    Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, trains at Mumbai’s Lokmanya Tilak Terminus were earlier seen packed with migrant workers as they feared an impending lockdown.

    Due to a sharp rise in COVID cases, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday imposed Section 144 in the state from April 14 till May 1. The curbs will strictly adhere between 8 pm to 7 am.

    The guidelines said that cinema halls, theatres, auditoriums, amusement parks, gyms, sports complexes will remain closed till Section 144 is imposed in the state. Local train and bus services will be allowed for essential services only and hotels and restaurants will allow only take-away home deliveries. Petrol pumps, financial institutions associated with SEBI, and construction work will continue.

    (With ANI Inputs)