Pawar gets involved in tackling pandemic situation in home district

Sharad Pawar, who reviewed the pandemic situation in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation Thursday, held discussions with the Pune administration and city leaders of NCP on Friday.

Sharad Pawar, Bhima Koregaon, Bhima Koregaon case, Bhima Koregaon arrests, Uddhav Thackeray, mumbai news, pune news, indian express

Pawar had last year written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray seeking the appointment of a Special Investigation Team to probe the actions of the Pune police in the case. (File)

As Pune has become the hotspot of Covid-19 pandemic, NCP chief Sharad Pawar took the district administration to task over failure in containing the spread of infection and resolve the woes of residents despite setting up a jumbo facility.

Pune district has been the most affected in the country with the total number of infected persons crossing 1.8 lakh mark, including one lakh in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) area alone, which is also the highest in the country. The district also has the highest number of active cases.

The administration has come under sharp criticism over failing to handle the situation effectively. The chaos at the recently inaugurated jumbo facility to treat critical patients has caused the administration further embarrassment.

Pawar, who reviewed the pandemic situation in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Thursday, held discussions with the Pune administration and city leaders of NCP on Friday.

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Mission home

Pawar asked the administration reasons behind failure in checking the spread of infection while directing it to take all possible measures to contain the disease and ensure treatment to critical patients.

The NCP chief also sought explanation on the complaints of patients in the jumbo facility, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar last week. The jumbo facility is supposed to have 600 oxygenated beds and 200 ICU beds to treat critical patients but there are several shortcomings in the facility, which has put the life of patients at risk.

Meanwhile, the PMC and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) have blamed each other for the shortcomings at the jumbo facility.

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The shortage of medical staff, safety equipment, ventilators and medicine has led to a chaotic situation at the Covid facility. The civic administration has taken up the matter to resolve the issues at war footing.

According to NCP leaders, Pawar has decided to provide six cardiac ambulances to transport critical patients in the city.

The NCP chief has also decided to attend the future weekly pandemic review meetings, scheduled on Saturdays. Ajit Pawar has been taking the weekly review every weekend so far. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and state Health Minister Rajesh Tope will also attend the meeting.

Ajay Jadhav

Ajay Jadhav is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, Pune. He writes on Infrastructure, Politics, Civic issues, Sustainable Development and related stuff. He is a trekker and a sports enthusiast. Ajay has written research articles on the Conservancy staff that created a nationwide impact in framing policy to improve the condition of workers handling waste. Ajay has been consistently writing on politics and infrastructure. He brought to light the lack of basic infrastructure of school and hospital in the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde even as two private helipads were developed by the leader who mostly commutes from Mumbai to Satara in helicopter. Ajay has been reporting on sustainable development initiatives that protects the environment while ensuring infrastructure development. ... Read More

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