150 cops test +ve in sharpest 1-day spike
The number of Covid-19 cases in the Mumbai Police rose by 150, so far the highest singleday jump till Friday. “The figure rose from 750 on Thursday afternoon to 900 by Friday evening,” said Naval Bajaj, joint commissioner (administration), who is also the nodal officer designated by the state government for providing aid to police personnel in the city. Of the 900 cases, a majority of 157 are from central region (Tardeo-byculla to Matungaghatkopar till Wadala TT) and 135 from west region (Bandra to Jogeshwari).
MUMBAI CONSTABLE DIES OF COVID-19
A 55-year-old head constable posted at Vile Parle police station died of Covid-19 during treatment at a Jogeshwari hospital on Thursday. This is the 11th death in Mumbai Police. 12 FROM OSHIWARA POLICE STATION +VE Twelve officers from Oshiwara police station tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, taking the number of infected Mumbai Police personnel to 762. Dayanand Bangar, senior inspector at Oshiwara police station, confirmed the development.
363 BOOKED, 248 HELD About 102 first information reports (FIRS) were registered by the Mumbai Police against 363 people for lockdown violations on Thursday. Around 248 people were arrested.
1,666 COPS POSITIVE IN STATE, 17 DEAD
A total of 1,666 police personnel in the state police have contracted Covid-19 so far. The number of police personnel who succumbed to the disease is 17, including 11 deaths from the Mumbai Police.
The Covid-19 outbreak may change commute in the city’s most used public transport — the local trains.
Local trains, known to be the city’s lifeline, carry over 80 lakh passengers every day. However, the services have been suspended from March 22 after the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the city.
On an average, a 12-compartment local train ferries more than 5,000 commuters during nonpeak hours and close to 7,000 during peak hours. Under the circumstances, maintaining social distancing inside the local seems like a pipe dream. Experts have suggested capacity reduction in trains, having access control, screening passengers, location mapping of passengers, application to track health details of passengers and inspection inside the compartment for crowding as part of the bouquet of solutions to resume local train services.
“Local train services should be introduced in phases. It is crucial to have crowd and access control inside the compartments as well. In the first phase, local train services only for essential workers in the city should resume, and later train services for general public should be resumed but with restrictions,” said transport expert AV Shenoy.
Former Central Railway general manager and retired Railway board member Subodh Jain said a protocol for commuting in public transport needs to be put in place. “Mumbai cannot restart until the local trains restart. Protocol for commuting in public transport needs to be decided. Mobile application, screening of passengers or a certificate that the person is fit to commute could be put in place. As the ticket examiner checks tickets inside trains and on stations, the examiners should be the authority. Local trains can be permitted but with identification on who will be allowed to travel,’’ said Jain.
“We are unlikely to see the trains resuming for another one month. Buses should be initially introduced as the primary mode of transport in the city. After seeing the reaction to social distancing in buses, train services should be introduced,’’ said transport expert Ashok Datar.
Meanwhile, the Central Railway resumed two pairs of toy train services between Matheran and Aman Lodge railway station on Friday.
MVA GOVT-KOSHYARI TUSSLE ON