INDIA. Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned for about four hours and recorded the statement of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal in the COVID centres contract case on Monday.
Chahal reached the ED office at Ballard Estate in south Mumbai around 11.40 am and left after 4 pm.
In reply to media queries, the BMC Commissioner said that he gave all the information about the jumbo COVID-19 care centres set up to meet the emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic to the ED and would extend all cooperation to the investigating central agency.
Elaborating, he said that the situation could have gone out of control if quick preparations were not made to tackle COVID-19 in Mumbai, which recorded its first case in March 2020. In June 2020, the Municipal Corporation had only 370 beds, compared to Mumbai’s 1.40 crore population.
When the number of Corona-positives reached 11 lakhs, the BMC decided to set up jumbo Corona care centres on open grounds, with state government approval, by acquiring some land and handing it over for the establishment of field hospitals.
Ten centres were set up by the NGOs free of charge, and the BMC did not incur any expenditures. “These centres saved the lives of lakhs of people by providing timely medical treatment,” Chahal said.
Of these, a complaint has been lodged about only one center. After getting information about some of the facility providers submitting forged documents for bagging contracts, the BMC asked the police to verify details by writing a letter, he said.
The IAS officer spearheaded the BMC’s response to the pandemic in the metropolis, where special health facilities were set up to treat coronavirus patients as the cases mounted.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya had filed a complaint at the Azad Maidan police station in south Mumbai, alleging irregularities in setting up the COVID-19 care centres by the BMC. Based on his complaint, an FIR was registered against a hospital management firm and some individuals for allegedly submitting fake documents to obtain contracts for COVID-19 care centers.
Also Read: ED Summons BMC Chief in Alleged COVID Centre Scam
