[ad_1]
The move was made after the city’s current Municipal Commissioner, Vijay Nehra, announced on Twitter that he was quarantining himself after contact with a couple of Covid-positive patients and advised to contact quarantine for 14 days according to the existing protocol.
While Nehra’s statement fueled speculation that he would be marginalized, the government brought Mukesh Kumar, the Executive Director of the Gujarat Maritime Board, and the former Commissioner of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to take over his absence and Additional Secretary General Rajiv Gupta to supervise operations.
The Rupani government has been under pressure with Ahmedabad cases making up almost 70 percent of Gujarat’s total positive cases. On Wednesday night alone, Ahmedabad added 291 patients to the state’s list of 380 total cases with Surat in a distant second with 31.
In total, Ahmedabad as of Wednesday night had seen 4,715 positive patients with 298 deaths and 778 discharges, while Surat treated 754 patients, 33 deaths and 314 discharges. The statewide figure stood at a total of 6,625 positive patients, 395 deaths and 1,500 discharges.
However, Nehra’s quarantine and the subsequent strengthening of the confinement raised serious concerns about the Rupani government’s strategy, which is under tremendous pressure for its handling of the COVID crisis. Speaking to ET, the former Gujarat Health Minister Dr. Jay Narayan Vyas said the government was clearly not satisfied with Nehra and so he moved. “But closing Ahmedabad seems like extreme action. If people did not behave in Ahmedabad, it must have been the case elsewhere as well. But the high fatality in the city must have led them to make this decision, “he added.
Vyas was clearly being more charitable. A high-ranking member of the ruling BJP, who was also part of the Narendra Modi cabinet in Gujarat, on condition of anonymity, described the action as a “clear panicked reaction from a bewildered government.”
It may be recalled here that Rupani had written to the Union Minister of the Interior, Amit Shah, asking three top-tier doctors, including Dr. Randeep Guleria of AIMS, Dr. Rajesh Chawla of Apollo Delhi Hospital, and Dr. Rohit Mumbai pandit to visit Ahmedabad for a day. Interestingly, Dr. M Prabhakar, the former Superintendent of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, who had handled the swine flu outbreak, is known not to have even been consulted by the government.
“We already have so many talented doctors here who have handled several crises and such requests only demoralize the doctors here,” said the veteran politician, adding that the immediate order from the new Municipal Commissioner has undone all the expected positive results of the strict closure for a week at the beginning, as people turned to panic buying on short notice to guarantee supply to their homes for a week.
Imran Khedawala, the MLA of the Jamalpur Khadia constituency in Ahmedabad, who had contracted the virus while conducting awareness campaigns in the most affected walled city and had received treatment at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Hospital, also questioned the government’s decision. .
“While Nehra was chasing the virus and at the same time keeping citizens informed and addressing their concerns, these high-level decisions are only creating more panic among people who have been under lockdown for more than forty days. The captain is not changed in the middle of a do or die game, but it seems that not everyone understands the basic principles of this government, “he added.
.
[ad_2]
