AURANGABAD: Maharashtra tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday said the chief minister will review the coronavirus situation next week and take decision about reopening tourist places and monuments in the state.
He was speaking to reporters after holding a meeting of tourism department officials here.
"Covid infection figures in Aurangabad have not yet come down much. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will review the situation next week and decide about opening the monuments and tourist places," Aaditya Thackeray said.
Aurangabad district is home to the world-famous Ajanta and Ellora cave monuments.
The minister, who also holds the environment portfolio, also said that the state is aiming to meet 25 per cent of its electricity needs through renewable sources.
"We are planning to have a 250 mw solar energy project along the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi expressway," he said.
About restarting the Deccan Odyssey tourism train, the minister said tender process is underway for it and the fares will be kept affordable.
Thackeray also inaugurated the first phase of the Kham river revival project undertaken by the local governing body and industrial associations here.
Such projects should be emulated elsewhere, he said.
Meanwhile, Mumbai reported 1,858 new coronavirus infections and 13 deaths on Wednesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a release.
The city has been reporting fewer than 2,000 cases for the last three days.
The caseload of the financial capital of the country went up to 10,40,363, while death toll rose to 16,569.
The new daily cases were hovering over 2,000 since December 29, 2021.
With 1,656 patients being discharged from hospitals on Wednesday, the tally of recoveries increased to 9,98,698.
There are 22,364 active patients in the city now.
The civic body carried out 42,315 coronavirus tests during the day, increasing the total of tests to 1,50,88,261.
The recovery rate in the city is 96 per cent, while the period taken for the caseload to double is now 185 days.
The BMC has sealed 27 buildings after detecting more than five patients in on the premises.