MUMBAI: BJP MP Gopal Shetty staged a protest against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday for allegedly denying permission to a 100-bed quarantine centre for COVID-19 patients. The protest was held outside the civic body's R- central ward.
Talking to PTI, Shetty, who represents the Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency, said that the BMC has refused to give permission to set up a 100-bed quarantine centre at Pawan Dham in Borivali area, despite a huge shortage of hospital beds in Mumbai.
He said that they had run a quarantine centre at the same place earlier twice during the first wave of COVID-19, but this time despite completing all the necessary formalities, the civic body has denied them permission.
"Earlier twice, we had treated more than 2,000 COVID- 19 patients at reasonable rates. Hence, this time we were hoping to get the permission within a day, considering the worsened COVID-19 situation in the city. But the BMC has denied permission," he said.
Shetty said that they have completed all the necessary formalities including fire NOC and made all the arrangements including oxygen cylinder, but presently the facility is unused in the absence of the permission.
He said he has also written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the issue. Despite repeated attempts, BMC's ward officer Bhagyashree Kapse did not respond to PTI's queries. There are 5.93 lakh COVID-19 cases in Mumbai, which has also reported over 12,400 fatalities since the outbreak of pandemic.