Yearender 2021: Highlights of MVA govt’s performance

Maharashtra faced a challenging 2021 on many fronts From the second wave of coronavirus to corruption scandals and natural calamities the year was full of tribulations for the Uddhav Thackeray ledMaharashtra Vikas Aghadi MVA government Not everything was doom and gloom though as the state government managed to pass quite a few tests Herersquos a look at the challenges the MVA government faced in its second year and how it performed on eachTwo years in office amid political turmoilSharad Pawar and Uddhav ThackerayIn what can be called a significant win for the MVA government it completed two years in office on November 28 Headed by Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray the coalition of Congress NCP and Shiv Sena was not always on the same pedestal and with the leading opposition party in the state BJP keeping the pressure up the victory silenced those who questioned the coalitionrsquos sustainabilitySecond wave of Covid19A BMC jumbo centre in Mumbai PicSatej ShindeSince March 2020 Maharashtra and Mumbai have been at the epicentre of the pandemic During the second wave in March 2021 Mumbai registered 88710 cases 475 per cent higher than February Its positivity rate too hit 2024 per cent which was witnessing an average of 89 per cent in the earlier monthsTo deal with the second wave the BMC applied a multipronged approach by setting up decentralised war rooms jumbo centres increasing the number of beds and setting up dashboards to monitor bed managementThe cityrsquos handling of the second wave was praised by the Supreme Court as it asked Delhi to emulate the lsquoMumbai modelrsquo On September 4 Mumbai reached a milestone when it completed one crore vaccination of Covid19 doses Maharashtra also fully vaccinated three crore citizens in OctoberNatural calamities and floodsThe state government announced a package of Rs 11500 crore for those affected by floodsApart from Covid19 the state also witnessed floods and landslides which left around 251 people dead and over 100 missing As the state recorded the highest rainfall in July in 40 years Satara Sangli Kolhapur Raigad Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri were some of the most affected regions Around 34 teams of the National Disaster Response Force were deployed for rescue missions The state government also announced a package of Rs 11500 crore for those affected Of the relief fund Rs 1500 crore will be allocated towards exgratia Rs 3000 crore for redevelopment and Rs 7000 crore for various longterm floodmitigation schemesCorruption scandals and highprofile casesSachin Waze and Param Bir SinghIt wasnrsquot smooth sailing for the Thackerayled alliance as questions were raised regarding the propriety of his government Former Maharashtra home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh was arrested in November by Enforcement Directorate for his alleged role in the Rs 100crore money laundering case In another embarrassment for the government State Forest Minister and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rathod resigned from his post as his name was linked to the death of a 23yearold woman in Pune in MarchFormer Mumbai cop Sachin Waze was also arrested for his alleged role in the Mansukh Hiran murder case and also allegedly planting a bomb near Antilia industrialist Mukesh Ambanirsquos house The cop who had returned to the service after a 16year suspension was dismissed again The reinstatement decision was taken under then Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh who himself was named in various extortion cases The former top cop who had not reported to work since May after his transfer appeared before the courts in November After a Mumbai judge cancelled the proclamation order declaring Singh as an absconder the Supreme Court granted him protection from arrestAlso Read Yearender 2021 5 unsung heroes from Mumbai who warmed the hearts with their acts of kindness