Wednesday, April 29, marked the first death of a municipal staff member due to Covid-19 in Mumbai. The deceased, 49-year-old Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official Madhukar Hariyan was taking care of food distribution to homeless and migrant workers in the Dharavi area, reported The Indian Express.
Hariyan was a resident of Borivali and an inspector in the Assessment Department of G-North Ward (Dharavi, Dadar, Shivaji Park) and had been working for the BMC for more than 15 years. He did not have any co-morbidity said a civic official. According to BMC officials, Hariyan developed fever on April 22 and had not been coming to office since then.
Our very own, Shri Madhukar Haryan (Inspector, Assessment Dept, BMC) passed away today. He had devoted himself in the service of Mumbaikars & the needy.
May his soul rest in peace. Our thoughts & prayers are with the Haryan family.
He tested COVID +ve
— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) April 29, 2020
“Initially, he went to a private doctor in Borivali. However, his condition started deteriorating. Since he had Covid-19 like symptoms, he was tested on Monday and the results came positive after two days. On Wednesday, when municipal staff were taking him to Kasturba Hospital for treatment, he died on the way,” an official said.
His death and another municipal staff testing positive has set off panic in the department. Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar has said the civic body will conduct the medical check-up of all staff involved in the food distribution process. A report from The Times of India says that seven staffers from BMC’s G-North Ward office have tested positive for the coronavirus, including a few civic engineers and staffers from the water department.
30 staff members of G-North who were in contact with Hariyan, have been tested for Covid-19 and asked to quarantine at home for 14 days, pending test results. “Since none of them has symptoms, we have told them to stay at home,” Assistant Municipal Commissioner, G-North Ward, Kiran Dighavkar said. Samples of Hariyan’s mother, wife and two daughters have also been taken.
Pednekar said that the demand for food too is expected to come down as different states make arrangements for the return of migrant labour and seeing this the BMC may also stop distribution of food. Currently, the BMC is has been distributing about 6 lakh food packets to labourers and homeless across the city daily. It has been collecting food from 44 community kitchens and distributing it to almost 700 spots in the city with the help of 800 staffers of the Planning Department.
In a video Pednekar said, “After this, corporators can make arrangement for food distribution in (their) respective wards. Also, grains, instead of food packets, will be considered.”
Dharavi, a red zone, is one of the most challenging Covid-19 hotspots of the city. With a population density of 35,000 per sq km and more than 8 lakh people, Dharavi remains a challenge for the BMC. On Wednesday, 14 new cases were reported from the slum area, taking the total cases there to 344. It has seen 18 deaths of people with coronavirus.
Allegations of negligence
Those at the frontline in the BMC allege that very little has been done by the government to ensure their safety. Ramakant Bane, general secretary of the union said, “Hariyan lost his life due to the BMC’s negligence. We had demanded medical check-up of all the municipal staff part of food distribution as they did not have safety gear and directly came in contact with many people. Now, after Hariyan’s death, the BMC has promised to conduct check-up of all staff and give them basic protective equipment.”
After Hariyan’s death, Dr Sangita Hasnale, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, Planning Department, and in charge of food distribution, on Thursday issued a circular saying all the staff would be checked for symptoms.
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