News Analysis India

Tag: Pune Municipal Corporation

  • A day after Shivaji statue inauguration by PM Narendra Modi, tile from canopy falls; NCP blames haste

    By PTI

    PUNE: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the Pune Municipal Corporation headquarter premises, a tile piece from the structure’s canopy fell down on Monday.

    While the NCP said it was a reminder of how the BJP was trying to push forward with inaugurations in a hurry for political gains, the PMC’s building department said the tile piece of the the canopy, which is above the statue of the warrior-king, fell after it was hit by a steel structure when tents and curtains were being dismantled.

    “The incident is unfortunate. The ruling BJP, just to gain political mileage, is rushing into inaugurations in a hurry. The structure was readied for inauguration within seven days while the curing period is 21 days,” said Pune NCP president Prashant Jagtap.

    PMC chief engineer Srinivas Kandul said the tile piece fell after it was hit by a steel structure during the dismantling of curtains and tents put up for the unveiling event.

    “The structure is of the best quality. No substandard material was used during the construction of the structure. The certificate of structural stability has also been received from the consultant,” he said.

  • Two cops suspended in connection with alleged attack on Kirit Somaiya on PMC premises

    By PTI

    PUNE: Two police officials were suspended in connection with the alleged attack on BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on February 5 on the premises of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), an official said on Saturday.

    DCP, zone 1, Priyanka Narnavare said the two personnel of the Shivajinagar police station were suspended for failing to receive the information about the number of people gathering at the spot.

    Somaiya had claimed that he was manhandled by Shiv Sena workers when he had come to the PMC to raise alleged irregularities in a contract to run a jumbo COVID-19 treatment facility.

    Eight Shiv Sena functionaries, including the party’s Pune unit president, were arrested.

    They were later released on bail.

    On Friday, Somaiya again visited the PMC and met the civic commissioner alleging irregularities in a contract to run a jumbo COVID-19 treatment facility.

    After he was felicitated by BJP workers, a Congress worker cleaned the stairs of the PMC with cow urine.

  • Huge crowd at Pune’s APMC market despite surge in COVID-19 cases

    By ANI
    PUNE: Amid a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) market in Pune witnessed a huge crowd on Tuesday.

    Abdul Qadar, a vegetable vendor, said: “People are coming here to buy vegetables and fruits. That cannot be controlled. To control and manage the crowd, lockdown is the only option. We are taking precautions on our level. What else we can do? We are poor, have to earn a living. We cannot afford to sit back at home from the fear of Corona.”

    “I came to purchase fruits and vegetables but now I fear for my life as the market is so crowded and people are not following COVID-19 guidelines,” said a local.

    Ashfaq, a fruit vendor said, “We do fear the pandemic but everyone needs to eat. People come here to buy fruits and vegetables and we come here to earn a living. The market is crowded because fruits and vegetables in other markets are costlier. Here they are available at affordable prices. We take precautions and continue to do our work despite the rise in cases.”

    The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) COVID War Room/Control Room has been receiving over 900 calls on a daily basis, said Dr Jeevan Chaudhary, Medical Officer at the control room.

    Speaking to ANI, the medical officer said, “We are receiving 900 calls every 24 hours among which 600 are received in the daytime and 300 in the night. The calls have increased because some patients call multiple times for inquiry of beds or other medical facilities.”

    Maharashtra reported 51,751 new COVID-19 infections and 258 related deaths on Monday. 

  • Three Maharashtra government agencies launch probe in Serum Institute blaze

    By PTI
    PUNE: Top officials from fire wings of three Maharashtra government agencies on Friday launched a probe to ascertain the cause of the blaze that killed five workers at Serum Institute of India’s premises here.

    Heads of fire departments of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) are part of the joint probe team.

    Five contractual labourers had died in the fire which broke out in a five-storeyed under-construction building in the Serum Institute of India’s Manjari premises on Thursday. The fire damaged the top two floors of the building located in ‘SEZ 3’ area of the premises of the vaccine major.

    Devendra Potphode, Chief Fire Officer, PMRDA, said officials from the planning and development authority, PMC, and MIDC have come together to ascertain the cause of the fire in the building. DCP (Zone-V) Namrata Patil said that police have registered an accidental death and burning incident case with the Hadapsar police station.

    “As we are seeing today, theentire floor (4th and 5th) has been damaged. We are trying to ascertain the cause of thefire as well as how the fire spread. Several types of equipmentwere damaged in the blaze. On the basis of findings from all the agencies, a conclusion will be reached on a how the fire started,” said Potphode

    The PMRDA officer declined to speculate on possible causes of the fire at this juncture. MIDC Chief Fire Officer Santosh Warrick also said it is difficult to comment on the cause right now. “We have started the probe. Our scope of investigation is to check how the fire broke out,” said Prashant Ranpise, PMC’s fire department head.

    Another official said that a team of forensic experts reached the spot and conducting their probe. The Manjari facility is where Covishield, the SII vaccine against COVID-19, which is being used in the nationwide inoculation drive against the infection, is made.

    The building where fire broke out is one km from the Covishield vaccine manufacturing unit.