MUMBAI: Concerned over the uptick in Covid cases in parts of the state, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday again urged political parties, social and religious groups to immediately stop all programmes that lead to crowding. The Ganpati festival starts from Friday.
Thackeray also chaired a meeting of the state disaster management authority in the morning, where no decision on new curbs was taken. “There was no discussion of implementing any fresh restrictions like night curfew during the Ganpati festival. However, we will continue to monitor the situation,” said relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar.
In his appeal, Thackeray said: “We can celebrate festivals later. Let us first prioritise the lives and health of our citizens. The situation can go out of hand in view of the spike in daily cases.”
If people follow all Covid-related guidelines issued by the government, there will be no need to impose any restrictions, he said. “Who would like to impose restrictions on festivals and religious programmes? But people’s lives are important… the upcoming festive days will be crucial and the onus is on political parties to ensure things do not go out of control. So, I appeal to all political parties, including my Shiv Sena, to cancel all social and political gatherings that draw large crowds,” he said.
The CM said people want to open up everything, but they do not realise the risk opening up brings with it. “The third wave of Covid is at our doorsteps. Kerala is seeing a spike of 30,000 cases daily. This is a danger signal and if we don’t take it seriously, Maharashtra will have to pay a heavy price,” he added.
Senior officials who were part of the disaster management authority meeting said the ministers are of the opinion that with the downsizing of Ganpati festival, it is unlikely people will crowd in public places. For instance, all big Ganpati mandals have been asked to make arrangements for live darshan through social media platforms to discourage physical mandal visit.
They said the state will continue to monitor the situation and in case the cases continue to surge, they could impose certain restrictions. But no decision was taken on Monday.
