MUMBAI: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Pravin Pardeshi has been shunted for his inefficiency in handling and controlling the coronavirus situation in Mumbai. The 1985 batch IAS officer Pravin Pardeshi has been replaced with Urban Development Secretary and 1989 IAS batch officer Iqbal Singh Chahal on Friday.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray sanctioned the transfer of the civic body chief after senior Congress ministers pressured him to replace Pardeshi with another officer for his failure to handle the COVID 19 situations.
In Mumbai, COVID 19 transmission is increasing day by day despite a 40-day lockdown with 11,219 COVID 19 positive cases and 437 deaths. “Due to the increase in the cases in Mumbai, the number of COVID 19 patients in the state are the highest in the country.
There were allegations that Pardeshi was not working with tandem with his team. There was a communication gap and that resulted in a chaotic situation and a rise in the COVID 19 patients. "Therefore, we asked the chief minister to take the extraordinary step to control the growing coronavirus number in Mumbai,” said a senior Congress minister requesting anonymity.
Interestingly, former Mumbai metro rail corporation MD Ashwini Joshi and Thane Municipal Commissioner Sanjeeb Jaiswal have been appointed as the additional municipal commissioners in BMC. The duo replaces Jayshree Bose and Appasaheb Jarhad.
Moreover, KD Nimbalkar, secretary of revenue, has been appointed as secretary of the Public Works Department while Manoj Saunik has been shunted from PWD and appointed as secretary, finance, and planning.
BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in state Vidhan Parishad Pravin Darekar said the BMC chief has been made the scapegoat of government failure.