SC lauds Mumbai model of Covid-19 handling, asks Delhi govt to take note

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit India, the Dharavi locality in Mumbai – the biggest slum-cluster of Asia -- became a major hotspot. However, the Dharavi model of combating the pandemic showed the way of the 4-T strategy - tracing, tracking, testing, and treating.

The model was replicated elsewhere in Maharashtra and other parts of India and even earned praise from the World Health Organisation and World Bank.

Now, the Mumbai model is making the headlines. The Supreme Court has appreciated it as the top court asked the Delhi government to take note of it even as the Bombay High Court took cognizance of it, directing officials to examine if it can be applied in Pune.

The financial capital of India is a big city and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) or Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has always had a tough task cut out.

Senior IAS officer Iqbal Singh Chahal was brought in as Mumbai’s Municipal Commissioner at a time when the first wave was peaking. However, he managed to flatten the curve and ensured that the city is back to normal by November.

In February, the second wave started hitting Mumbai and on April 4, it touched the record high of 11,206 cases in 24 hours. However, it has now come down to the level of an average of 3,500 for over a week’s time.

In fact, the BMC has 24 municipal wards and Chahal, an efficient planner, made this his advantage and created as many war rooms. The BMC decentralized the Covid-19 operations, tackled the panic, managed patients and also carried out vaccinations.

Each war-room was a control centre equipped with 30 telephone lines; it had 10 telephone operators, 10 doctors with medical support staff and 10 ambulances. They worked round the clock in three shifts. There were 10 dashboards in each ward. Nodal Officers were appointed to the 24 Ward War Rooms and seven Jumbo Field Hospitals to work in two shifts – 3 pm-11 pm and 11 pm-7 am.

The BMC headquarters acted as a hub and sorted out test reports ward-wise. Freshers from medical colleges and nursing schools were hired at higher stipends. The bed strength in hospitals was increased and fleets of ambulances were sourced.

“The current death rate is much lower than that reported last year during the peak of the first wave. We have created war rooms to monitor the Covid-19 situation in the city. We're informing people about the availability of hospital beds through the war room...this reduced confusion and complications," said Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, adding that Mumbai has started preparations for the third wave also.