As the coronavirus outbreak in Maharashtra deepens, with Pune emerging as the latest coronavirus hotspot, BJP MLA from the Shivajinagar constituency in Pune, Siddharth Shirole has written a letter to the central government seeking intervention from them to ward off the looming medical infrastructure crisis.
In a scathing criticism of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, Shirole said that the Maharashtra government has left Pune to fend for itself from the surging coronavirus spread. He has accused the government of gross negligence which has pushed the city on the cusp of a medical calamity.
#Pune is a few days away from a medical catastrophe. State Govt. has failed. I on behalf of every Punekar have written to Hon. PM @narendramodi ji, Hon. HM @AmitShah ji, Hon. MoHFW @drharshvardhan ji, Shri. @Dev_Fadnavis ji and sought intervention from the Central Govt. (1/n) pic.twitter.com/bqDWKBwVWP
— Siddharth Shirole (@SidShirole) July 16, 2020
“Pune is just a few days away from a catastrophe. The state government has failed on multiple levels and the citizens are left to fend for themselves. Hence behalf of every citizen of Pune, I seek your intervention and support from the Central Government to provide our city much needed medical infrastructure it needs including large COVID centre,” Shirole requested the centre in a letter marked to PM Modi.
Shirole questions Maharashtra government leadership’s negligence in Pune’s battle against coronavirus
“Leadership that is paramount in times of crisis is acutely missing. Honourable Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray ji has not made a single visit to Pune in the last 100 days either to oversee the preparedness of the administration or even to encourage the COVID warriors fighting on the frontlines,” the letter read.
Shirole has further added that the chief minister of the state has till date not called for an update or review meeting via phone/video conference with the elected representatives of Pune and with the ground authorities. Accusing the Maharashtra government of abdication of their duty, Shirole has claimed that even emails from his office have not elicited response from the establishment.
Pune in dire straits as coronavirus caseloads surge uncontrollably
The Pune MLA’s desperate appeal for centre’s help comes at a time when Pune has emerged in the list of top 3 districts in the country in terms of active coronavirus cases. Mortality rate and infection rate in Pune are particularly high and the state government has so far not envisioned any plans to develop a 10,000+ bed for COVID treatment centre.
The situation in Pune is woefully grim and the city is facing a shortfall of 200 ICU and 100 ventilator beds, which has led to entirely preventable deaths of many citizens, Shirole said. About 1280 people have already died in Pune of coronavirus and 29,583 out of 49,037 caseloads are still active in the city. Yesterday, Pune’s daily spike in coronavirus cases crossed Mumbai’s mark, underscoring that the city is fast devolving into a coronavirus hotspot. The fate of an overwhelming number of people hangs in balance as Pune faces a severe shortage of medical equipment and facilities and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government continues to turn a blind eye to the city’s crumbling medical infrastructure.
