Central teams to hotspots

New Delhi: The Union government has said the COVID-19 situation is "especially serious" in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and a few other places in West Bengal, and warned that violation of lockdown measures risks the spread of the novel coronavirus further.

Acting swiftly, the Union Home Ministry also announced that six inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs) will visit these identified areas in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan within the next three days to make on-the-spot assessment and recommend remedial measures in a report to the Centre. In identical orders issued to the four states on Sunday, the Home Ministry said there have been several incidents of violence against COVID-19 front-line healthcare professionals, complete violation of social distancing norms and movement of vehicles in urban areas.

Reacting to the development, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the basis on which the Centre has proposed to deploy its teams was "unclear" and added "we would not be able to move ahead on this as without valid reasons this might not be consistent with the spirit of federalism".

The Home Ministry said in some districts, a number of violations to the lockdown measures have been reported, posing a serious health hazard and risk for spread of COVID-19 which include attacks on frontline healthcare professionals, complete violations of social distancing norms outside banks, PDS shops and in market places, movement of private and commercial vehicles with passengers in urban areas and so on.

These incidents, if they are allowed to occur without any restraining measures in hotspot districts or emerging hotspots, with large outbreaks or clusters, pose a serious health hazard, both for the population of these districts and for that living in other areas of the country, it said.

After analysing the prevalence of such violations in major hotspot districts, it is clear to the central government that the situation is "especially serious" in Mumbai and Pune (Maharashtra), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Kolkata, Howrah, East Medinipur, North 24 Parganas, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri ( West Bengal), the home ministry said.

After the government announced inter-ministerial central teams decision, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted, "We welcome all constructive support & suggestions, especially from the Central Govt in negating the #Covid19 crisis. However, the basis on which Centre is proposing to deploy IMCTs in select districts across India including few in WB under Disaster Mgmt Act 2005 is unclear."

The orders, signed by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, in his capacity as the chairperson of the National Executive Committee under the Disaster Management Act, also said the six inter-ministerial central teams will visit these hotspot areas and make on-spot assessment of the COVID-19 situation in these places and issue necessary directions to the four states.

There have been several incidents of attacks on healthcare workers and police by some people in different parts of the country, including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, leading to injuries to doctors, paramedics and police personnel. The lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 in a bid to combat the coronavirus pandemic. It was further extended till May 3.