Covid battle in Pune as cases 3 times of Mumbai | Economic Times

MUMBAI: Covid-19 has sparked political battle in Pune as the cases in the city soar to almost three times that of Mumbai.Amid the BJP and NCP-Shiv Sena clashes, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday held a review meeting with district officials in Pune. The visit has been overshadowed by political wrangling as the BJP-run Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) expressed its inability to pay its share for building three mega covid health centres in the city. The Maharashtra government had said that the PMC, Pune Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) and the state government would pay up Rs 300 crores that is going to be used to build three jumbo covid hospitals in Pune. The PMC that has the BJP in power has, however, said that it does not have the funds to pay for it, claiming that it is running short of case has it has already spent Rs 250 crores during the pandemic. The refusal of the PMC to pay it share is being seen as the result of a bitter political slug fest between the local BJP leaders and the Shiv Sena and NCP unit, especially as the PCMC which also has the BJP in power has said that it is ready to give its share. It also comes when Pune is consistently getting more than 2,000 cases per day and last week for several days it was getting more than 3,000 cases.This is not the only issue of friction, BJP’s Pune Lok Sabha MP Girish Bapat has demanded that Lavassa township in Pune should be turned in to a Covid facility to be used as a quarantine centre. Bapat’s target being the NCP in Pune as the NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s family had been instrumental in the township coming up and had at one point of time even had shares of the project. Interestingly the Pune administration has clearly said that Lavassa being a remote hill city it was not feasible at all for the city to house any patients. As the parties bicker, Pune is facing a shortfall ventilators and hospital beds with oxygen and there have been several complaints of people being turned away from more than a dozen hospitals before they get beds.