Court: Use BMC’s Covid model in nearby places in Mumbai

Mumbai: Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday said Mumbai’s successful pattern of handling Covid19 cases has to be followed by municipal corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
The observation was made by a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni, hearing a clutch of PILs on Covid-19 management. They were told by advocate-general (AG) Ashutosh Kumbhakoni that “figures are going down drastically overall.” The HC had previously noted that efforts of the BMC commissioner to tackle Covid-19 have also been appreciated by the Supreme Court and the Mumbai model must be replicated in all other districts of Maharashtra.The BMC had said the state government should facilitate a meeting of civic body heads. “We intervened and got it done on May 31,’’ the AG informed.
The judges then said the Mumbai model is more relevant for corporations in its immediate proximity, like Thane, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayander, Kalyan-Dombivli and Ulhasnagar. “…For these corporations, the Bombay (sic) pattern must be immediately followed,’’ Justice Kulkarni said.
The judges said it is not that citizens of those places are differently placed from Mumbai . “It ought to be done so that we get results like Bombay (sic). If this was to be done earlier, we would get better results,’’ Justice Kulkarni said, adding “it’s better late than never”.
Quizzed about the shortage of Amphotericin-B injection for black fungus cases, additional solicitor general Anil Singh said the state has decided to manufacture it in-house at Haffkine, with a 20-day cycle of production. He said that in the first batch, some 40,000 vials will be available by June 10. He said that Amphotericin-B will also be produced at a facility in Hyderabad. To the judge’s query on whether the supply of Remdesivir injection and oxygen was sufficient, Singh said there is no issue regarding the same. “Central government has taken a decision not to control Remdesivir distribution because cases have reduced and there is sufficient availability,” he informed. The judges said the State must see to it that no patient is harassed or inconvenienced to procure medicines.
The judges, in their order, said it appears that there have been significant improvements in the recent past so much so that supply of liquid medical oxygen and Remdesivir, being the immediate concerns raised in the previous hearings, can be put aside for the time being, “and the focus shifted to deal with newer diseases like mucormycosis and aspergillosis as well as the measures taken/ proposed to be taken by the respondents to contain the third wave which, as per the opinion of experts, is likely to affect the younger generation in particular”. They will hear the parties on these aspects on June 8.