NCR cities cannot be separate from Delhi during crisis, says Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday emphasised the need to have a unified strategy in Delhi-National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR) to tackle the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), adding that suburbs such as Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad can’t be separated from the Capital in the public health emergency.

Shah held a meeting with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior officials of the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to review the Covid-19 situation in Delhi-NCR amid a surge in the number of cases of the infectious disease.

Delhi recorded 2,877 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, which took the total in the city to 49,979.

“In view of the structure of Delhi-NCR region, all concerned bodies need to unite and work on a common strategy against the coronavirus pandemic. In this context, I met with Delhi Chief Minister and senior officials of Center and Delhi-NCR today to discuss how to evolve a strategy as soon as possible,” Shah tweeted.

At the meeting, Shah said that keeping in view the close-knit urban structure of the NCR region, it was necessary for all concerned authorities in DelhiNCR to come together to tackle the virus, according to a statement.

The Union home minister has directed officials from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to submit information about Covid-19 beds, ventilators, oxygen cylinders, ICUs and ambulances available with them and their plan to augment these resources by July 15 July to his ministry so that a common strategy could be devised in Delhi-NCR.

Authorities in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi have imposed border restrictions at different points over the past few weeks, leading to complaints of inconvenience from commuters, some of them engaged in essential services.

A senior home ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Gurugram, Noida, Sonepat, Faridabad and Ghaziabad are important suburbs and crucial to the Capital. “They cannot refuse to make available each others’ facilities. They have to work with each other else one or the other will be overwhelmed by the pandemic,” the official said.

Shah also suggested that the NCR districts could consider adopting the Rs 2,400 charge fixed for Covid-19 tests in Delhi, besides the new rapid antigen methodology being implemented in the Capital from Thursday.

COMMON STRATEGY SUGGESTS NCR DISTRICTS COULD A DOPT THE ₹2.4K CHARGE FIXED FOR TESTS IN CAPITAL