Maha toll exceeds 6,000 after 101 new fatalities

MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Sunday went past the 6,000 Covid-19 fatalities mark with 101 more deaths, pushing the toll to 6,170.

The state also recorded 3,870 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the total to 132,075. Mumbai recorded 1,159 more infections, taking its tally to 66,488, while it reported 41 deaths in the past 48 hours.

Of the 101 deaths reported by the Mumbai civic body, 41 occurred in the past 48 hours.

A senior official from the state government said that the trajectory of the cases will remain as expected as the state will continue to see a rise and minor falls in the number of daily cases.

MUMBAI: Three weeks into the lockdown imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the sudden death of around 30 birds, mostly crows, over two days (April 11 and 12) within and around the Smt Chandibai Himathmal Mansukhani (CHM) College campus in Ulhasnagar, Thane district, came as a shock for college staff and residents.

The college principal Manju Pathak explained that prior to the lockdown, birds used to feed on leftovers of the college canteen, and grains left daily by commuters on roads that run along the periphery of the college located opposite Ulhasnagar railway station.

“Following the lockdown, this stopped. On April 11 two birds died, and a day later 24 more including crows and pigeons were found dead across the campus. A veterinarian who had conducted a post mortem on one of the birds told us that they died owing to the lack of food and water,” Pathak said.

On April 11, when Sarita Khanchandani, 43, a zoologist and former school teacher learnt