The Maharashtra government did not prepare for a second wave of coronavirus infections in the state despite Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray predicting it in November last year, senior BJP leader Madhav Bhandari said on Friday.
He said the state's hospitals would not have been facing such an acute shortage in oxygen supply if the Thackeray government had started setting up oxygen manufacturing plants in November itself, Bhandari claimed.
"Against the backdrop of a fall in the number of Covid-19 cases, CM Thackeray addressed the people on November 22 through Facebook live. In his address, he said even if the numbers had gone down, people should not think the danger of Covid-19 had died down, and had predicted a second wave citing the example of some western countries," Bhandari told reporters during an online interaction.
The CM spoke about a second wave in February as well during another Facebook live session, Bhandari said.
"His prediction about the second wave has turned out to be accurate. So the question that arises is if the state government had prior knowledge, what preparations did it take to deal with the situation," he asked.
He said the state government could have used the past five months to stock up on Remdesivir, a key medicine in Covid-19 treatment, currently in short supply due to rise in cases.
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