How the virus gave the Maximum City a big black eye

BCCL

Migrant workers wait in front of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai to catch trains to their hometowns.

Synopsis
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has taken a slew of measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 but has seen little success, as the virus has found its way into the city’s breeding ground — its slums and chawls. And with the monsoons approaching, Mumbai faces a tough healthcare battle.

On March 11, Mumbai reported its first novel coronavirus case. Even though the civic administration has been spending sleepless nights, Covid-19 cases in the city have crossed 38,000 and even after 80 days there is no end in sight to the problem. This is despite imposing a strict lockdown from March 23 when there were just over 50 cases in the city that is home to about 20 million people. How did it turn so bad? Long story short: overburdened