Completion of the Gokhale bridge delayed again
The Gokhale bridge, which was supposed to get ready before Diwali this year, will take more time. During the assembling of the girders that came from Ambala last month, it was found that the place for the cranes to move in the area was not sufficient. So, 28 structures affecting the movement of the crane and the pace of work, were demolished. Of these 13 were residential structures and 15 commercial.
According to civic officials, 30 days are needed to assemble the girder and another 15 days to launch it and push towards the north side, before lowering it. They said it’s a very specialised task and has to be executed carefully and under strict supervision of the railways. They will also need 40 days to concretise and open the bridge.
Source: The Free Press Journal
Read more: Frustrated with alternative routes, commuters wonder when Gokhale bridge will open?
Deprived of ICU bed, TB patient dies
A woman, who was suffering from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), died due to delay in finding an ICU bed. On August 23, Mansi Bhagat, 44, took her last breath at the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Dombivli, about 45 km away from the city.
“We had initially admitted her to a local hospital but had to transfer her to Sir JJ Hospital for further treatment. All the required tests were done, and she was about to start on the MDR-TB treatment on August 20 but that’s when her condition started deteriorating,” said Manish, Mansi’s husband.
“The pulmonary medicine department doctors had suspected her to have type II respiratory failure and asked for ICU admission. The hospital’s ICU in charge said she couldn’t shift Mansi to the ICU because of her MDR-TB positive status. She said it would mean risking other patients,” said Rohan Vartak, Mansi’s brother.
The Prabhadevi-based family of the patient checked five hospitals including the Sewri TB Hospital run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for an ICU bed. Finally, after y for an ICU bed the patient got admitted to AIMS, Dombivli but she died as it was too late.
Source: The Hindustan Times
Second positive case of Zika virus
A second case of Zika virus was reported in the city, this time it was a 15-year-old girl from Kurla. The Zika virus is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and the symptoms are similar to dengue. “The patient had a fever and headache and was receiving symptomatic treatment at a private hospital in Kurla. Her blood sample was sent to KEM Hospital to test for Zika infection. She was transferred to a government hospital, when the report came positive,” said a BMC official.
Mumbai has seen a rise in cases of malaria and dengue. In August 26,132 mosquito breeding spots were found. Last month first case of Zika Virus was found in Mumbai when a 79-year-old man tested positive in Chembur. The BMC does door-to-door surveys, and campaigns and also collects fines from areas failing to control breeding.
Source: The Hindustan Times
Read More: How community health workers conduct annual TB, leprosy survey
Heavy rains on Janmashtami
After weeks of sunny days, heavy rains lashed the city again on Thursday, the day of Janmashtami. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded over 100 mm of rain in the 24 hours starting from Thursday and ending at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Rain recorded in the Santacruz observatory was 111 mm between Thursday and Friday morning. Whereas the Colaba observatory received 50 mm of rain.
The citizens celebrated Janmashtami with enthusiasm. Few injuries and no major untoward incident was reported during the celebrations. Social media was flooded with posts about how it rained heavily on the occasion of Lord Krishna’s birth, referring to the traditional belief about downpour on this day.
IMD had issued yellow alert throughout Friday in Mumbai, and extended the alerts in neighbouring districts like Thane, and Palghar till Saturday.
Source: The Indian Express
20 crore spent on empty enclosures at Byculla Zoo
Mumbai’s Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan also known as the Byculla Zoo has enclosures ready for new animals for more than two years, but they are empty. Rs 20 crore has been spent in the making of these enclosures. According to an RTI application, there are three enclosures; one is for lions which is for Rs 8.25 crore, one is for Indian boars which is for Rs 7.15 crore and one for otters which is for Rs 3.82 crore.
An official from the Byculla zoo said, “The process of getting new animals takes time. We build the facilities for the animals first and then we strike a deal with other zoos. Currently, the problem is we do not have excess animals to exchange that is why we are facing difficulty in acquiring new animals.”
“A lion exchange programme was almost confirmed from the Sakkarbaug Zoo, Junagadh, in exchange for zebras from Israel. However, at the last minute, the approval for zebras was redacted, and the exchange has been stuck ever since. Even now, there is no estimated time of arrival for the lions,” added the official.
Source: The Hindustan Times
(Compiled by Stephin Thomas)