Urban News

Indian Express 9.09.2009

BMC lab gets ready to test H1N1 samples

With the H1N1 outbreak in Mumbai abating considerably, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now getting ready to face a second wave in case one arises. The civic body is upgrading its Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) laboratory at Kasturba Hospital for testing H1N1 samples, as part of its preparedness to combat any fresh outbreak. The lab will start swine flu tests from October.

The lab, equipped with a PCR machine to test samples from BMC hospitals to confirm leptospirosis and other monsoon-related diseases, will soon have a real-time RT-PCR machine for testing suspected H1N1 samples and will comply with safety measures prescribed in the CDC and WHO guidelines.

“A team of technical experts from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune reviewed the lab and gave a list of equipment to be added. We are procuring the machine and the lab will be functional by October. NIV will endorse the PCR machine and provide reagents. The first 50 samples will be sent simultaneously to both NIV and Kasturba lab for accuracy,” said Manisha Mhaiskar, additional municipal commissioner, BMC

“We have given them technical guidance and will give them reagents. They have told us that they will meet level-II bio-safety measures,” said Dr A C Mishra, director, NIV.

During the H1N1 spread, the civic authorities had faced several bottlenecks in examination of throat samples sent to NIV, Pune, and Haffkine Institute, Mumbai, for tests to confirm swine flu and the civic authorities were eager to start the facility in its own lab.

“Approval to start testing was given to us long back. Six technicians will be sent to NIV for training,” added Mhaiskar. On sharing load of samples, Mhaiskar said, “Once the lab is functional, it will serve on need-based response.”

On Friday, the Government of India gave the nod to Super Religare Laboratories (SRL), a private laboratory, to share the burden of carrying out H1N1 confirmatory tests in the state.

Two more die of swine flu
A five-year-old boy died of swine flu on Tuesday taking the H1N1 death toll in the city to 16 until Tuesday. Faizan, admitted to Kasturba Hospital on September 3, tested positive for the virus on Friday and was put on Tamiflu.

His condition deteriorated and he was transferred to Nair Hospital on Saturday where he died on Tuesday afternoon.

Twenty-year-old Sapna, who was nine months pregnant, died on Sunday. She had been admitted to Holy Spirit Hospital in Andheri on August 29 for fever, cough and cold. She developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) on September 1.

Her throat swabs were taken the following day and she was put on Tamiflu the same day. She was tested positive on Saturday and passed away on Sunday.

Indian Express 9.09.2009

2-km stretch gets in way of Metro-I, deadline may be overshot

Mumbai’s first Metro project — a 11.2-km corridor from Versova to Ghatkopar via Andheri — scheduled to be completed by July 2010 may overshoot the deadline because of a 2-km stretch, according to officials.

The 2-km stretch on the route has still not been handed over by the nodal agency to the Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL), the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) formed by Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Veolia Transport for the project.

According to MMOPL, the Right Of Way (ROW) is now “desperately” needed for construction on the 2-km stretch. “The ROW from Navrang Cinema to Andheri SV Road and Saki Naka to Asalpha to LBS Marg, which is a 2-km stretch, is still not given to us for construction,” said a senior MMOPL official.

The MMRDA is still to resettle project affected persons (PAPs) including shopkeepers and residents on J P Road, Andheri and hand over the stretch near Andheri station on both east and west sides. Also the stretch from Saki Naka to LBS Marg is undergoing road-widening work and would not be handed over until it’s finished.

The MMOPL began construction of the corridor in February 2008 but has been awaiting the handover of some portion of the alignment. “We desperately need the remaining ROW and we’ve conveyed this to MMRDA time and again. So far we’ve not received any time frame within which they would hand it over,” the official added. He added that with every passing day, without the entire ROW, the schedule is being thrown out of track and that could lead to a delay in finishing the corridor by July 2010. “It is certainly getting difficult by the day to keep up with the deadline. We’re trying our best to finish it on time, but we need the remaining ROW at the earliest,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the MMRDA maintains that the project will be completed on schedule and the remaining ROW handed over in two months. “Of the 11.2-km stretch, over 9 kilometres have been handed over to MMOPL. The remaining ROW, in pockets, will be handed over step by step in a month or two,” said Ashwini Bhide, Joint Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.

According to Bhide, giving out entire ROW is not practical as barricading the entire alignment with narrow roads will not be allowed by traffic police. She added, “We’re not deliberately holding up the entire ROW; at some places MMRDA’s road widening work is going on. In some stretches PAPs have gone to appeal or traffic police have not given permission. These issues are being resolved and gradually the ROW will be handed over step by step.”