Pune: Pune Divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar on Wednesday directed the experts from different industries to train their employees for social distancing, sanitation, hygiene and other measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at workplaces.
The commissioner was interacting with over 400 representatives from different industries online on Wednesday evening. The interaction was organised by Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) and was hosted by MCCIA President Pradeep Bhargava and MCCIA Director-General Prashant Girbhane.
The industry representatives highlighted their current plights. The divisional commissioner, district collector Naval Kishore Ram and Pune Police Chief K Venkatesham assured that issues before the industries will be addressed.
On industry representatives were seeking clarity on restarting industries in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, Mhaisekar said that the administration is waiting for fresh guidelines from the centre, which are expected on May 17.
He said, “As we are aware Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad area are in the red zone and there are over 69 containment areas of COVID-19 in Pune, it would be difficult to provide relaxations at this point. While we want the industries to start due to economic challenges, we must also understand that we have to protect lives. We cannot afford to make any mistakes.
“We do not want to put the industries in jeopardy and so there is a need to train the employees. The pandemic situation will be with us till a few months until we have a vaccine for it and so there is need to take precaution,” Mhaisekar explained.
“The industry experts pointed out that some unsocial elements are imposing their own rules in Jejuri and affecting the work of the industries. Collector Ram assured to look into the issue. There were instances where people imposing curfew by themselves. People should not follow such rules and should highlight such incidents.” he added.
Pune Police Commissioner K Venkatesham appealed to the representatives to apply for digital passes in case employees want to work from 7 pm to 7 am. He also clarified that people from containment zones will not be allowed to move out.
The industry representatives also highlighted the issue of non-availability of labourers, restriction in movement of raw materials and goods, restriction in movement of employees and other issues. Divisional commissioner Mhaisekar noted the issues of the industries and assured to work on finding solutions to the issues.
