Ludhiana civic body scrambles to stem infections as joint chief tests +ve

Panic gripped the staff of Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) after its joint commissioner-cum -zonal commissioner (Zone D), Kulpreet Singh, tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.

The MC sanitised its various offices and also decided to restrict the movement of public on the premises.

Meanwhile, the staff working at the joint commissioner’s office has been home quarantined. MC additional commissioner, Sanyam Aggarwal and joint commissioner Swati Tiwana have already been home quarantined after additional deputy commissioner (general), Amarjit Bains was tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. The staff has now been demanding that the MC should shut down its offices in order to thwart the spread of the virus. Requesting anonymity, an MC official said, “The news of the joint commissioner testing positive created a flutter. He used to conduct regular meetings with staff before he was home quarantined himself. One of the employees deputed in the health branch has also been told to home quarantine himself after he developed Covid-19 symptoms. The MC should shut down the offices or conduct the Covid-19 test of their employees.”

Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, “I had conducted a meeting with MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal and we have decided to restrict the entry of public in MC offices. The public would be directed to submit their application at Suvidha Kendra only. If someone has to meet any official, they will have to go through thermal screening. No decision has been taken to shut down the offices or testing of employees.”

No check at entry gates

While the MC officials were organising awareness programmes under ‘Mission Fateh’ to spread awareness among the residents, there was no check on the entry of the public in MC offices and they were allowed to enter without thermal screening, till Friday. Mayor Sandhu has now directed the staff to depute a person with a thermal scanner at the entry to avoid the spread of the virus.