Tag: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister

  • No easing of restrictions in Pune as positivity rate is high: Deputy CM Ajit Pawar 

    By PTI
    PUNE: Pune and some other districts will not witness immediate relaxation of coronavirus restrictions as the positivity rate in these areas has not declined much, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Friday.

    Speaking to reporters after a COVID-19 review meeting here, Pawar, who is also the guardian minister for Pune, said the government has decided to continue the level three restrictions in the district.

    The state government has devised five levels of restrictions, the fifth level being the harshest, depending on the severity of the pandemic in a given area.

    “In some districts the positivity rate has come down to zero per cent, however, in some districts such as Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Pune, Raigad and Ahmednagar, the positivity rate has not declined as much as it should have, so the current restrictions will remain in force,” he said.

    Shops in Pune will, thus, be allowed to operate till only 4 pm, he said.

    “The weekly positivity rate of Pune district is 5.7 percent. The recovery rate is 97.30 percent,” Pawar said.

    Asked about the demand from various sectors for some relaxation, he said the positivity rate must go down further.

    “The positivity rate has come down (to around five per cent) but the graph has stagnated at one point.

    According to experts, it should go down further, the way it has declined in some areas to zero.

    If that happens, we will offer more relaxation,” said Pawar.

    The district administration is increasing the number of hospital beds to prepare for a possible third wave, he said.

    Dr Subhash Salunkhe, technical advisor to the state government on the pandemic, has suggested putting emphasis on institutional isolation instead of home isolation to curb the spread of infection, Pawar said.

    On vaccine supply, he said the state government was told that the supply of doses will increase by June-end.

    “There has been no instance when the vaccine was available on all seven days of a week. There were times when the vaccination had to be stopped for a day or two during a week. It means they (the Union government) does not have that much stock,” Pawar said.

    On the water situation in Pune, Pawar said the rains were satisfactory in June, but not in July so far.

    “The current water storage in the dams which provide water to Pune city is 30 to 31 percent. We expect that there would be more rainfall in coming days,” he said.

  • Maharashtra Deputy CM orders probe into tree plantation drive during Fadnavis regime

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has ordered to constitute a committee to probe the tree plantation drive of the previous Devendra Fadnavis government.

    “The previous government had undertaken a tree plantation drive aiming to plant 33 crore trees from 2014 to 2019. The then government spent Rs 2,429 crores on this drive,” sources said.

    The issue was raised by Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole during a discussion at the state Assembly on a starred question about tree plantation during Fadanvis’s regime.

    However, a committee will be formed by March 31 and will be given six months to complete its probe on the tree plantation drive, sources said. 

  • Maharashtra minister being linked to woman’s death not missing: Ajit Pawar

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday dismissed the opposition’s claims that state forest minister Sanjay Rathod, whose name is being linked to the death of a woman in Pune, has been missing.

    Talking to reporters here, Pawar said he spoke to Rathod, who is also the guardian minister of Yavatmal, on Thursday about the COVID-19 situation in the district located in the state’s Vidarbha region.

    Some social media posts and the BJP have claimed that the 23-year-old woman, who died after falling from a building in Hadapsar area of Pune on February 8, was in a relationship with a cabinet minister in the state.

    On Wednesday, former state power minister and BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bavankule alleged that the person under scanner is state forest minister Sanjay Rathod “who is still missing and nobody in the state government knows his whereabouts”.

    When asked about such claims on Thursday, Pawar said, “Who said he (Rathod) has disappeared? I spoke to him today itself that we may have to take a decision to impose (stricter) lockdown there (in Yavatmal) as the situation has become serious there.”

    Bawankule on Wednesday alleged the state government was trying to suppress the case of the woman’s death.

    According to Pune’s Wanwadi police who have registered a case of accidental death, there was no suicide note.

    Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads the three- party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, has already promised a detailed probe into the case and action against the guilty.