Mumbai—India’s financial capital and home to the Bollywood film industry—could be on way to becoming the Covid-19 capital of India with over 4,000 cases and counting.
What are the factors that could have led to a high number of coronavirus cases in Mumbai?
Let us try and examine some of the reasons for the same:
1. Being the financial capital of India and an economic nerve centre, Mumbai hosts the second busiest international airport in India. The Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport has many flights, particularly to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Iran and Italy which have emerged as some of the hotspots of the virus. Many asymptomatic individuals could have sneaked in before the travel ban came into effect.
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2. The city’s migrant population is about 1.84 crores and in terms of population density, the city is the fourth most densely populated city in India. The virus is known to spread in enclosed spaces and in large gatherings.
3. The Dharavi slums, Asia’s largest slum is slowly emerging as a hotspot of the virus, not just in Mumbai but also in India. The slums have around 200 recorded positive cases and above 10 deaths. There were reports that some members of the Tablighi Jamaat from Kerala had in fact stayed in these slums and were later found to be positive. People in these slums do not have access to basic standards of living and hygiene. It is often considered to be a repository of all forms of diseases that plague urban Indian slums. Lack of knowledge amongst the residents is also an area for concern.
4. The State government has also adopted a lackadaisical attitude when it comes to cracking down on offenders who violate social distancing norms. The police haven’t enforced these norms strictly and neither have they enforced the lockdown measures fully. This week, the city reported traffic jams across many parts such as the Western Expressway which is close to the Dharavi slums.
5. One of the positive outcomes from this entire ordeal is that Maharashtra has not shied away from testing individuals. According to information available with the State government, Mumbai is continuing to test 3779 for every million people. This number is way ahead of even Delhi which is at 727 per million people.
So what does Mumbai need to do deal with the crisis?
The government will have to make available abundant supplies of essential items across the city, preferably close to people’s settlements. The most vulnerable areas in terms of poor, lower middle-class localities will need special attention. Large gathering of people in areas are being witnessed because of fears of lack of food and other essential items. Usage of GIS technology can be used to map out vulnerable zones across the city. The BMC with a large budget can easily provide for these services.