Random testing in Navi ahead of Ganeshotsav

NMMC to test people at markets, Ganesh pandals, immersion sites in addition to railway stations

NAVI MUMBAI: Ahead of Ganeshotsav, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has increased the random testing in Navi Mumbai, especially at the railway stations. Currently, around 500 random antigen tests are being conducted at the railway stations. The municipal corporation plans to conduct similar random tests at busy markets, pandals and immersion sites as well.

Pramod Patil, medical health officer, NMMC, said, “A total of 7,000 rapid antigen tests and around 2,000 RT-PCR tests are conducted daily. This year, during the festival period, we have to fight malaria, dengue as well as Covid. So, along with making sure that the Covid norms are followed, we also need to ensure that the preventive measures for dengue and malaria are also taken care of by checking up on stagnant water and fogging at the pandal areas.”

Depending on the availability of vaccines, the corporation also plans to have vaccination drives at the pandals. “If there is enough supply, we will have vaccination drives at pandals, wherever possible. We will also be putting up hoardings and signages regarding Covid at the pandals. We had a joint meeting with the police wherein we have informed them as well about the actions they should take against people not following the Covid norms,” assistant municipal commissioner of NMMC, Sanjay Kakade, said.

The corporation also plans to have an arrangement wherein the residents not willing to step out for immersion can handover the idol to the designated persons visiting their areas and they would further immerse it.

The artificial ponds, which were 132 last year, have been increased to 156 this year in order to make sure that there is not much crowding at one place.

“Every pandal should use only one-fourths of the road and there should be an area left for the people to travel. The pandals should not be blocking any footpath or roadway. Such applications, which can create blockage to the movement of the public, have been rejected and in some cases, people have made double applications thinking that if one is rejected, another might be considered,” an official from NMMC said.

Meanwhile, the cases of not wearing masks and not maintaining social distancing have also increased ahead of the festival. In August, around 1,272 people were fined for not wearing masks and a total fine of ₹6.36 lakh was collected. Also, 2,075 were fined for not maintaining social distance and they were fined ₹4.15 lakh.