New Delhi, Jun 14 () The municipal corporations are ready to offer their facilities to the Delhi government for the treatment of the COVID-19 infected people in this hour of crisis, East Delhi Mayor Anju Kamalkant said on Sunday.
After a high-level meeting of all the three mayors with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to review steps to combat the coronavirus, Kamalkant said, "We have always been preparing ourselves anticipating the situation."
The mayors of the BJP-led MCDs asserted that the civic bodies and the Delhi government with work together along with the Centre to fight the pandemic, and chose not to harp on the row over discrepancies in death toll figures.
There are two hospitals in east Delhi -- Swami Dayanand Hospital and Veer Savarkar Hospital -- besides many community halls which cane be used as COVID facilities, she said.
"Earlier it was not notified that they could be used for COVID treatment, now it had been done. And, we are ready to offer our facilities to the Delhi government, as we are all together in this fight," she said.
Shah held a meeting with top functionaries of Delhi's three municipal bodies along with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to take stock of the COVID-19 situation in the national capital.
The meeting took place at North Block and lasted for nearly 30 minutes.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan was also present in the meeting, which came as the coronavirus cases rose alarmingly to nearly 39,000.
Earlier in the day, Shah held a meeting with Baijal, Kejriwal, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, and senior officials of the Union Home and Health Ministries and the Delhi Disaster Management Authority.
Delhi recorded 2,134 fresh coronavirus cases on Saturday, the second highest single-day spike here, while the death toll due to the disease climbed to 1271, authorities said.
North Delhi Mayor Avtar Singh said the purpose of the meeting was to assure people that authorities will work in tandem to ensure proper facilities and "they should not feel worried".
Senior leaders of the three municipal corporations on Thursday had claimed that over 2,000 COVID-19 deaths haven taken place in Delhi, while the official tally stood at nearly half of the count.
Delhi government, reacting to the claim had said, the COVID-19 death audit committee is "working impartially", and this was "not a time for blame-game but to work together".
The two mayors and Deputy Mayor of South Delhi Raj Dutt Gahlot, when asked if the issue of mismatch in death figures was raised in the meeting, replied in the negative.
"Meeting was to our reassure the public, as rising number of deaths from COVID-19 was causing panic in people. The meeting was held to give out a message to people that all three government are working together to offer healthcare facilities as needed in this crisis hours," Kamalkant told reporters.
The North Delhi mayor echoed her, saying, meeting essentially sought to bring together all three levels of government -- Centre, Delhi government and the MCD -- "and to emphasise that we have to work in tandem to tackle the coronavirus pandemic".
Asked how Hindu Rao Hospital will be equipped to meet the requirements, Singh said, "We are making all preparations as needed."
Hindu Rao Hospital was on Sunday declared a dedicated COVID-19 facility by the Delhi government.
Deputy Mayor of South Delhi Gahlot, when asked on the mismatch in death figures, said, "We are not saying Delhi government is wrong, we are saying, we are right".
East Delhi Mayor Kamalkant also said, "Whatever deaths we are reporting from COVID, is based on official documents".
Rajdutt Gahlot, Deputy Mayor of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, said there were 95 community centres under their jurisdiction, out of which 80 can be used as isolation wards.
Similarly, out of the 583 schools under its control, 400 can be used as isolation centres, Gahlot said. KND RT