Bombay:
Mumbai Mayor Iqbal Singh Chahal said jumbo COVID-19 care centers have been set up on the orders of the Maharashtra government as he today took his statement to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with alleged irregularities in the award of contracts for health facilities during the pandemic.
Speaking to reporters after coming out of the ED office where he recorded his statement for more than four hours, Mr. Chahal said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) extended all cooperation to the central office.
The BMC commissioner reached the ED office at Ballard Estate in south Mumbai around 11:40 am and walked out shortly after 4:00 pm.
The Central Financial Crime Investigation Bureau had earlier summoned the senior bureaucrat to take his statement in this case.
The IAS officer led the BMC’s response to the pandemic in the metropolis, where special health facilities were set up to treat coronavirus patients as cases piled up.
The civilian chief told reporters that the situation could have spiraled out of control if swift preparations were not made to deal with COVID-19 in Mumbai, where the first case was recorded in March 2020.
The BMC had started jumbo COVID-19 centers under instructions from the state government by acquiring and handing over some places to set up field hospitals, he said.
“The municipal corporation has outsourced the necessary staff to meet the requirements of COVID-19 field hospitals, saving thousands of lives by providing timely medical treatment,” said Mr. Chahal.
After getting information about some facility service providers who had submitted forged documents for packing contracts, the BMC had asked the police to verify the details by writing a letter, he said.
“I have informed the ED that we are extending all cooperation on the part of the BMC. I will cooperate with the agency and (appear before him) if I am again called upon for investigation,” the IAS officer said.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya had alleged irregularities in the setting up of COVID-19 centers by the country’s wealthiest civic organization, which is currently under a trustee, as the elected representatives’ five-year term of office expired early last year and new polls are coming.
The former Lok Sabha MP had also lodged a complaint with the Azad Maidan police station in southern Mumbai on the basis of which an FIR (Initial Information Report) was registered against a hospital management company and some individuals for allegedly submitting false documents to obtain contracts available for COVID-19 healthcare centers.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured video of the day
No survivors found after plane crash in Nepal with 72, 5 of them Indians