Activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Monday staged a protest outside the office of the Thane municipal commissioner over the deaths of 18 patients at a civic hospital in Kalwa over the weekend. Protesters carrying placards shouted slogans against the civic administration accusing it of being responsible for the deaths Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (CSM) Hospital in Kalwa.
Earlier on Sunday, civic commissioner Abhijit Bangar said 10 women and eight men died in 24 hours at CSM Hospital in Kalwa. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had taken feedback about the situation and ordered the setting up of an independent probe committee, he said. Former Thane mayor Naresh Mhakse, who is also spokesperson of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said the hospital was "overloaded" and was treating 650 patients per day against a capacity of 500. The civil hospital in the area is being renovated so the load fell on the facility in Kalwa, he claimed. Talking to reporters during the protest, Sushant Suryarao, vice-president of the MNS' city unit, said if the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) was well aware that the civil hospital was being relocated and the load would increase on CSM, they should have made arrangements to meet the eventuality. Protestors demanded that the civic chief apologise to citizens for the deaths and that a case of culpable homicide be registered against those found at fault.