Mayor irked by civic body fiat to traders on mandatory COVID-19 tests

Staff Reporter

Mayor Sandip Joshi expressed surprise at fiat issued by civic body directing traders to test employees of their establishments for COVID-19 or threatened to shut shops after August 19. City traders were taken by surprise on receipt of notices from Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) directing them that every person working at their establishments must have COVID-19 negative test report. Notices issued to traders said the cost of testing be borne by them and granted them just a week’s time.

As panic set in the markets, four delegation of traders met Mayor on Thursday and he too agreed that civic administration should not act in haste. Disclosing this to newspersons during interaction on Thursday, Joshi said in the first place, city does not have testing capacity beyond 4,000 (Rapid Antigen) and there are nearly 50,000 shops in city and on average 10 persons are employed therein.

Imagine the logistics that would be required to comply with order of civic body and has civic administration made any arrangement for the same. Already markets are struggling to survive under impact of COVID-19 pandemic and such random threats of civic administration further dampen the spirits. So, Mayor advised civic administration not to issue such impracticable and unreasonable orders that triggers unnecessary panic in markets.

‘I will resort to agitation if people are made to suffer’ Sending a veiled warning to civic administration, Mayor Sandip Joshi said if necessary he too would hit the streets if citizens interest is taken for granted. ‘Till date at least in Nagpur a Mayor did not have to resort to agitation but now enough is enough. If people are made to suffer then I will not remain a silent spectator”, he stated. Mayor, however, was on backfoot when asked about Thursday’s agitation by ruling BJP corporators at NMC demanding withdrawal of proposal of hike in water tariff. Since BJP and Municipal Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe are on same page, Joshi was asked about necessity of the agitation to which he said since it was pre-decided the party went ahead with it.