Lack of State-BMC coordination, targeted containment failed Mumbai: Health Ministry

Mumbai / New Delhi: Lack of coordination between the state health ministry and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation chief was leading to delays in implementing several key decisions in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic, a five-member Union health ministry team has observed.

The team led by joint secretary Lav Agrawal, which returned to Delhi after a two-day visit to Mumbai on Friday, also stressed the need for increased testing in specific areas, and better coordination with several departments to improve Covid-19 management in Maharashtra, the worst-affected state in the country, people aware of the development told ET.

The state government on Friday transferred BMC commissioner Praveen Pardeshi to the urban development ministry, a move seen as a shake up in the city that has been struggling to contain the pandemic.


A member of the central team that visited the city, however, said they “had no role in this decision”.

Maharashtra accounts for 40% of the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country. Mumbai, with more than 10,000 cases, has been facing a crisis of shortage of beds, leaving several critical patients out of care, leading to their deaths. A video of dead bodies lying next to patients in a civic hospital also added to the shock regarding the apathy and lack of preparedness of the city.

On Friday, Mumbai asked all the private labs to stop testing any new patients for the novel coronavirus, once again indicating the policy flip-flops in the city’s response to the crisis. Issues between the state and BMC were leading to several roadblocks in the fight against the pandemic, according to officials.