How did Pune become the number 1 worst-hit COVID-19 metro in India?

Last Wednesday a tour of Punes Budhwar Peth Momin Pura Bhawani Peth and Tadiwala Road areas revealed that joggers were out for their morning run and locals were shopping for vegetables many of them with no mask Those who did had them tucked under their chins And one pedestrian we crossed spat before our feet It was just another day in IndiaExcept this is 2020 the country is deep in the throes of the Coronavirus pandemic And Pune cannot afford to be laxLast month Pune district whose population as per the 2011 census was 94 lakh Pune city registered 32 lakh became the worstaffected district in Maharashtra With over two lakh cumulative cases of COVID19 it has surpassed Mumbai 130 lakh cases and Delhi 193 lakh cases And matters are only getting worseOn Saturday the Maharashtra state health department reported that among the fresh cases in the state 22000 Pune region led the charts with 6232 cases even as Mumbai registered 2321 cases The death rate in the city stands at 281 per cent As per data provided by the Pune Municipal Corporation PMC the total number of active cases on September 10 was 16712 of which 7745 were advised home isolation 5658 patients admitted to government and private hospitals and 3309 admitted to Covid Care Centres CCCSo how did Pune get hereDevotees take home an idol of Lord Ganesha from Sadashiv Peth on August 21 the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi Although Punersquos infection numbers have been consistently high civic authorities told midday that lack of social distancing during the festival led to a marked spurt in cases in the city PICGetty ImagesThe city saw its first COVID19 case on March 9 when a couple returning from Dubai tested positive Later three others who had come in contact with the couple tested positive By midAugust Pune had overtaken Mumbai PMC chief Vikram Kumar blames the rise of infections on the festive season There were a few cases during the lockdown But they started to increase during the Ganpati festival as people did not follow social distancing norms he saysAnother factor he believes is the inflow of infected people from nearby districts where citizens faith in existing medical systems isnt high Pune is close to Ahmednagar Satara Sangli and Kolhapur where COVID19 cases are increasing quickly Patients from adjacent cities are arriving here for better medical facilities and we cannot say no to them Cases in Pune rural are also increasing Nearly 30 per cent of total COVID19 patients undergoing treatment in Pune belong to other cities says Kumar adding that increased testing has also led to an increase in number of casesVikram Kumar Pune Municipal Corporation chiefWe have increased testing from 4000 to 7000 patients per day the highest in Maharashtra We have also set up 12 mobile vans to collect swabs from patients across the city Every day at least 1800 people are found COVID19 positive But only 15 per cent of these need hospitalisation The remaining are asymptomatic he saysBut there are those who argue that the city is illprepared to take care of its high caseload Additional Municipal Commissioner General Rubal Agarwal admits that the PMC doesnt have enough manpower to run its first jumbo CCC located at the College of Engineering Pune CoEP said to have been built at the cost of R200 crore Equipped to operate with 800 beds the PMC currently has manpower only for 200 beds Efforts are on to fill the gap of 600 on priority Today we have activated 80 beds of which five each are meant for ICU and ventilator patients whereas the remaining 70 beds are equipped with oxygen facility she told midday in an interview on Friday adding that the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority PMRDA has engaged an agency to hire doctors and other medical staff to run the jumbo CCCRubal Agarwal Additional Municipal Commissioner GeneralIn addition to the CCC Kumar says that more than 70 per cent of beds at private hospitals have been reserved for COVID19 patients and all civic hospitals are now equipped with ICU bedsAgarwal wants to urge people not to panic as government bodies are working roundtheclock to contain the pandemic It is true that infections are on the rise but with proper care and treatment 83 per cent of people have recovered in Pune Kumar adds that the civic body has also upped its contact tracing efforts having created a control room in each ward Each control room makes at least 7000 calls to asymptomatic people and their contacts to know their present health conditions The positivity rate is at 26 per cent and the death rate is 281 per cent he saysWhile Agarwal has requested Punekars to reach out to the PMC helpline 02026127398 or toll free number 18001030222 for immediate medical assistance residents say even basic ambulance facilities havent been helpful Kunal Gholap 32 a mobile mechanic in Guruwar Peth recalls the harrowing time he experienced when his 57yearold father tested positive for COVID19 on September 8 I had called 108 for an ambulance but no one arrived for 12 hours Finally I called a private ambulance and took him to Todkar hospital in Bhawani Peth but the doctors asked me to deposit R30000 Hospital charges would amount to an additional R15000 per day My fathers condition was deteriorating but I had no money for hospitalisation By this time his fathers oxygen saturation level had dipped to 50 I rushed him to Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital where the doctors said they couldnt guarantee if he would survive He was finally treated at Sardar Vallabhbai Patel Hospital where his condition is slowly improving he narratesRupali PatilThombareThis feels former corporator Rupali PatilThombare indicates a failure of state machineryThe government had blindfolds on and did little to control the pandemic she says adding They claim the cases increased after the Ganpati festival but why were stringent measures not in place What were the police and the PMC doing Every day 2000 positive cases are reported and most patients are advised home isolation because theres a dearth of beds in hospitals and a lack of medical facilities Thombare arguesA round of containment zones she says is most likely to throw up blatant defying of rules with people moving freely without masksA visit to Sangamwadis Kailash Shamshan Bhoomi revealed that not only medical staff crematorium workers are also reeling under the pressure of rising infections Pune has a death rate of 24 per cent as opposed to Mumbais 5 per centCrematorium staff of Kailash Shamshan Bhoomi slip into PPE kits at the cremation chambers They say they have to pull through an entire day in the same suitThere are two electric cremation chambers at Kailash Shamshan Bhoomi where on an average 32 bodies are burnt every day Sources say that a staffer is given a single PPE suit to wear during an entire shift of eight hours During the initial days we would dispose of a PPE suit after placing a body in the cremation chamber Civic officials have said there is a shortage of PPE kits We wear the same suit again and again All we can do is sanitise our hands repeatedly says Arif Shaikh one of the four crematorium staffers It takes around 15 hours for a body to be incineratedThe crematoriums watchman Kanhaiya Salunkhe says the PMC has stopped providing hand sanitizer and soap for the staff who handle COVID19 positive bodies Who cares about us We are working here as a temporary staff whose salaries are delayed every month We cannot dare to ask the senior officials as we fear losing our jobs he adds The rise in cremations means that families living in the area have had to face fell A family of 50 members who live in separate units around the crematorium have been complaining of ash wafting into their bedrooms and kitchensThe Pardeshi family which lives in the neighbourhood around Kailash Shamshan Bhoomi where on an average 32 bodies are brought in daily complain of ash settling on their foodPriti Pardeshi 41 from the family says The ash falls on our food Its getting impossible to live here The civic body is responsible for ensuring the living conditions here improve Super Singh Pardeshi 48 a security guard and resident of the neighbourhood says he has had to shift his kitchen from the first floor to a narrow space on the ground floor which is covered with asbestos and has no ventilation to protect the food from contamination He adds that those living nearby have left for their hometowns as they feared inhalation of air contaminated by the smoke from the furnaceWith Nationalist Congress Party NCP chief and member of the coalition thats in power Sharad Pawar taking recent note of the downward spiral efforts seem to be in place to make a change The first step say insiders is to get people to get serious In the two days this reporter was in the city police officers stationed at arterial roads were seen catching those not wearing masksResidents of Punersquos redlight area in Budhwar Peth have been following strict measures with sex workers doing a temperature check conducting sanitisation and refusing to entertain customers not wearing masksJoint commissioner of police Law and Order Ravindra Shisve says We are imposing a R500 fine for not wearing a mask This drive started on September 2 and 22773 people have been fined so far We have collected more than R111 crore from offenders Shisve says that a few rowdy people assaulted onduty cops during the drive Three cases under Section 353 of IPC have been registered one each at Sahakar Nagar Wanawadi and Koregaon Park police stations in Pune and the assaulters have been arrested he addsMapUday MohiteInterestingly Punes greatest lesson in selfprecaution may come from followers of the one profession that has little place for social distancing its redlight area Civic authorities say its free from infections because of the precautions taken by commercial sex workers The footfall has decreased by 90 per cent due after the outbreak We barely get a couple of customers in a day However they are all subjected to temperature checks before their entire body is sanitised not just their hands We want to ensure we do not get infected says a sex worker from Budhwar Peth areaThe midday photographer captures a man spitting on the road from his car The Pune police have upped their drive against those not wearing masks and following rules More than 22773 people have been fined and R111 crore collected PICSATUL KAMBLEMost sex workers say they do not entertain maskless customers Some have installed the Arogya Setu application on their phones to confirm if their customers are COVID19 negative Regular announcements to follow extra precautions are being made throughout the area After all as Alka Gunjal group coordinator at PMC says contact tracing will prove problematic if a sex worker tests positive Though there are several cases of COVID19 in Budhwar Peth the redlight area has remained unaffected by the virus as the sex workers have been taking utmost precautions she addsKeep scrolling to read more 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