Indore, April 18 The commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh Indore, despite enjoying the status of the cleanest city in the country, has earned the dubious distinction of recording a very high fatality rate due to coronavirus.
Home to political bigwigs, the city is in the grip of the deadly virus with 842 coronavirus positive cases and 47 deaths till last count.
Many believe it is the over confidence on the part of the administrative machinery that led to the spread of the virus.
Out of a total of 1342 corona positive cases in Madhya Pradesh, 842 are from Indore, a share of 64 per cent.
So far as deaths are concerned, Indore's share is 68 per cent (47) out of the 69 deaths reported in the state so far.
Politically also, Indore is very active. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and a host of other politic hail from this place.
The rapidly rising number of infections and the resultant deaths are the talk of the town here.
Amulya Nidhi, a social activist said, " There is no coordination between different agencies here. The script for the rapid spread of the virus was written on March 22, the day of Janata Curfew, when it was like a sudden blowout in the evening. All norms of social distancing went for a toss when a big celebration was organised at Rajwada, as if India has won something big."
He said, "Indore is known as the cleanest city in the country. It is also very developed with all modern amenities. It has an international airport. Flights from various countries directly land here. Rail and bus transport system here are of high class. Industrially it is a hub. Many foreigners keep coming and going. It has top class educational institutions. Students from far off places come here for education and coaching purposes. The unemployed youth get employment here."
Collector Manish Singh believes that it is due to outsiders that the city got infected so widely. He said, "Coronavirus came to Indore through passengers coming from abroad by air. Five to six thousand passengers came to Indore by flights. It is they who brought the virus here. They were neither screened at the airport nor made to self quarantine. There is no other way the virus would have come to the city. "
Vinay Bakliwal, president of the Indore Pharmacist Association, said that the biggest reason for the spread of coronavirus is not following the social distancing norms.
( With inputs from IANS )