BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi was transferred while Mumbai struggles …

MUMBAI: In a sudden move, the Maharashtra government replaced Commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Praveen Pardeshi with IS Chahal. Pardeshi was released as the additional chief secretary (urban development).

Ashwini Bhide, who previously headed the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation, and Sanjeev Jaiswal were named additional municipal commissioners (BMC).

The reorganization occurred when Mumbai was struggling with more than 400 cases of covid-19 per day.

Mumbai had more than 11,000 positive cases and 437 deaths as of Friday, the increase in cases also led to a situation in which both public and private hospitals had difficulties organizing beds in ICUs.

Pardeshi, known for supervising relief and rehabilitation efforts after the Latur Earth earthquake, was swimming against the tide as BMC chief, as he was seen as someone close to former Prime Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

There were rumors that Pardeshi disagreed with Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta. Government officials said the Sion hospital incident, where the bodies were kept alongside the patients, along with the increasing number of cases in the city led to the transfer of Pardeshi.

Interestingly, Bhide disagreed with Shiv Sena about the Metro project located in Aarey.