CM Thackeray | SabrangIndia

Malad’s slum-dwellers demand immediate rehabilitation

Sat, 17 Jul 2021 09:59:18 +0000

Between bouts of heavy rains, Ambedkar Nagar residents on July 17, 2021 assembled with placards hanging around their necks to demand their relocation from the red-zone area. Adults and small children alike stepped out of their bamboo-and-plastic shacks, sporting messages that in different ways voiced their one single demand – decent housing in a safe region as per Bombay High court orders dating back to May 7, 1997.

People stood outside their makeshift houses with signs that read, “We request Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to rehabilitate us disaster-ridden Ambedkar Nagar residents.”

One child standing outside his shack showed a placard that read, “The people here live in bamboo houses. There are no basic amenities here. Why is this place called a house?”

Another child held a placard questioning why the move was delayed despite directions by the Court.

According to actor Anish Yadav, residents have been living in fear ever since the infamous Malad wall collapse of 2019. Around 29 people including two children had died in the incident, claimed residents.

“Our only demand is for rehabilitation because we fear something like the wall collapse may happen again,” said Yadav.

Similarly, labourer Kiran Asogupta, who found two bodies behind her shack two years ago said that children often cry at night during monsoon, fearing their death.

“Even today, it has been raining for four hours. We are scared our kids will get washed away. They ask us to leave this place but we cannot even leave,” said Asogupta.

In other areas, slum-dwellers have an option of exiting their place until conditions improve. However, the people here are at risk even in the open in the red alert zone. They also cannot go to their workplace because employers claim “they might spread diseases.”

“How many days are we supposed to go without work? Children can’t even attend online classes now because we have no money to pay for internet access,” she said.

Another resident, domestic worker Niranjan Rana said he lost his job during the coronavirus pandemic. However, despite economic troubles, he still wanted the government to prioritise the issue of rehabilitation.

“We have many problems. We lost fathers and children. But we don’t want electricity, water or toilets. Just give us a house. Why? Because even if we get facilities, we still live in garbage,” he said.

As per the Indian Constitution, people of India are entitled to the Right to Life, including the right to live with dignity and with all aspects that make life worth living. While courts interpret this right under Article 21 to encompass clean water and good health, the slum-dwellers here only speak about the need for concrete houses.

Further, Rana criticised the government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for their delay in complete rehabilitation. Even after Cyclone Tauktae, residents saw municipal officials visit the area for a survey. They assured people of new flats in the city but failed to give an estimate as to when.

Moreover, after the recent cyclone, the High Court directed the BMC to submit a report regarding the status of living conditions. Rana claimed that even 25 days after the visit for the report, the same hasn’t been submitted to the court. He asked, “If we had violated any such High Court order, we would have been penalised but here the BMC has violated their directions and no complaint has been lodged. Why?”

Recently, environmental communications collective Let India Breathe also reached out to the residents. Member Yash Marwah said that volunteers reached out to the BMC, the disaster management department and even the social justice department but did not receive a response.

“The only time the residents come into focus is when there are heavy rains. The important fact is that rain from a single day disrupts their life for at least 4-5 months. The government talks so much about climate justice but they need to realise that social justice is also a part of it,” he said.

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Activists request meeting with CM Thackeray to discuss new Covid-19 guidelines

Wed, 07 Apr 2021 07:33:20 +0000

Image Courtesy:indiatoday.in

Civil society organisations sent recommendations concerning new Covid-19 restrictions to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in a joint letter on April 6, 2021.

Despite an increasing number of coronavirus cases, members welcomed the government decision not to enforce a complete lockdown and requested a meeting with Thackeray to discuss possible civil society collaborations to effectively address the pandemic situation.

“Your efforts at avoiding any hasty decisions to impose a lockdown and inviting solutions from civil society to deal with the pandemic crisis is highly welcome and appreciated. However, there is not much clarity on the state of crisis faced by migrant workers, daily wage earners and many other workers in the informal sector due to the new restrictions,” said the group whose members were involved in relief work and advocacy last year.

They pointed out that migrant and daily wage workers, the homeless and marginalised groups are badly affected by such restrictions because they no do not have adequate arrangements for food, shelter and other basic amenities. As such, members recommended a decentralised approach by consulting communities through associations, societies and groups of residents in the area.

Community representatives and civil society organisations should be included in the task force and provided movement passes, they recommended. Further, they advised against documentary proofs to avail relief packages in the poor neighborhoods under lockdown.

“Adequate arrangements for food, water and shelter should be put in place before imposing any lockdown conditions. Shivbhojan Yojana should be extended to tahsil and weekly market areas in rural Maharashtra,” they said.

Further, the civil society groups said the Public Distribution System (PDS) should ensure migrant workers’ food security, especially considering that in 2020, many workers with and without ration cards were left to fend for themselves.

“Rations should also be made available to non-ration card holders. There is a need to establish food centres/ banks in every city ward with multiple counters after surveying the ward-wise requirement,” they said.

Members also called for a constant monitoring of the impact of the lockdown restrictions on migrant workers and their livelihood status, to ensure support such as re-establishment of shelters, special protection for hawkers, cash transfers/sustenance, a 24-hour helpline and vaccination centres in populated slums and localities.

In the field of health care, the groups said that the poor citizens often lose out on non-Covid healthcare. Last year, many facilities were diverted for Covid care and the poor were forced to access expensive private hospitals to avail of medical facilities. Similarly, ambulance service should be strengthened and expanded, especially in districts with high case load and in rural/tribal areas.

Regarding the over-Rs. 22,000-crore provisional GST collection that the central government is yet to give to the state government from 2020-21, the 100 and more organisations agreed that the central government should pay a major part of Covid-19-related expenses such as medical and hospitalisation expenses, rations, transport, etc.

Lastly, member organisations called for clarity in guidelines and accountability from enforcement agencies to ensure the most vulnerable such as the informal sector are not targeted. In 2020, Sakinaka’s larger informal manufacturing sector said the police resorted to violence and forcibly shut units by 6:30 PM, despite permission to run at full capacity.

“A situation like this, involving wrongful implementation, unnecessary harassment and use of force, could potentially lead to many units shutting down, resulting in economic hardship,” said the letter.

The full list of recommendations can be viewed seen below:

Surge in Covid-19 cases has gone “from bad to worse”: Dr. VK Paul

Covid-19: India records 68,020 new cases registered in the last 24 hours

Covid-19: Huge spike recorded as 59,118 new cases reported in the last 24 hours

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Please forgive me: CM Thackeray to families of hospital fire victims

Fri, 26 Mar 2021 11:38:43 +0000

Image Courtesy:news.abplive.com

Ten lives have been lost in the devastating fire that broke out Sunrise Hospital, Dream Mall in Bhandup, Mumbai. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said that action will be taken against those who are found responsible. He visited the spot and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the victims. Those who died were critically ill and were on ventilator support.

Thackeray also sought forgiveness of the families of victims, and has directed authorities to conduct fire safety checks in malls or other structures across the state where hospitals are being set up for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. He has promised that strict action will be taken against all those responsible for negligence and delay in this regard.

भांडुप येथील ड्रीम मॉलमध्ये लागलेल्या आगीमुळे सनराईज रुग्णालयातील रुग्णांच्या झालेल्या मृत्यूंची मुख्यमंत्री उद्धव बाळासाहेब ठाकरे यांनी गंभीर दखल घेत प्रत्यक्ष घटनास्थळी जाऊन त्यांनी पाहणीही केली. मृतांच्या वारसांना प्रत्येकी ५ लाखांची मदत जाहीर करण्यात आली आहे. pic.twitter.com/zWwioeEWVe

— Office of Uddhav Thackeray (@OfficeofUT) March 26, 2021

According to news reports, the fire broke out on the first floor of the Dreams Mall just before midnight on Thursday March 25, and reached the Sunrise Hospital, a private Covid-19 hospital, located on the top floor of the building. According to reports the Brihanmumbai Municipal corporation (BMC) confirmed that the death toll in the fire incident had risen to 10 on Friday, and that three bodies are yet to be identified. Disturbing images of the inferno flooded social media as did those of politicians visiting the site. The police said that it was a ‘level four’ fire, which is a serious emergency call, and a probe was on to ascertain its cause. Over 20 fire engines, 15 water tankers and ambulances were rushed to the spot.

#MumbaiFire – 10 killed in massive blaze at Covid centre inside mall. Scary thing is that 32 #COVID patients are still missing. pic.twitter.com/18PO5MQGIq

— Kirandeep (@raydeep) March 26, 2021

The Hindustan Times reported that, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar who visited the site expressed surprise that a hospital was operating inside the mall, saying, “I have seen a hospital at a mall for the first time.” The mayor added that “action will be taken if irregularities were found in allowing the facility to operate there.”

The hospital, however, issued a media statement on its part that said that it is functioning with all due compliances like fire licence, and nursinghome licence. It also claimed that the bodies were of those who had died of Covid-19. The hospital stated, “There was a fire on the first floor of Dreams Mall, Bhandup and the smoke reached up to the Sunrise Hospital located on the top floor. When fire alarms beeped, all patients were safely evacuated to the fire refuge area as the smoke was reaching the hospital.”

According to some news reports, the BMC had issued notice to the mall in November last year for allegedly flouting fire safety norms. Former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Sanjay Dina Patil was also reported to have said that he had written to the BMC commissioner last year drawing attention to the alleged flouting of fire safety norms there. The Covid-19 hospital is on the top floor of this three-storey mall. Patients who were rescued have been shifted to the Covid-19 field hospital in Mulund and Fortis Hospital, stated a report in the DNA.

In December 2020, the Supreme Court Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah had issued a set of guidelines for the States over hospital fire incidents and containment of the virus in Re: The Proper Treatment of Covid 19 Patients and Dignified Handling of Dead Bodies In The Hospitals Etc. (W.P [C] No. 7 of 2020). On November 27, 2020, the top court had taken suo motu cognisance of the Rajkot Hospital fire in Gujarat resulting in death of Covid patients. The Court had also taken notice of earlier incidents of fire in Covid Hospitals.

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