Thane brings in IAS who curbed cases in Malegaon

THANE: As cases spiral in Thane, the local municipal corporation is set to emulate the Malegaon model to control rising infections, with young IAS officer Pankaj Ashia, credited with having flattened the curve in the textile town, deputed to the city.
“Ashia is from the 2016 batch and was recently assigned the task of controlling the spiralling numbers in Malegaon, which he achieved successfully,” said Vijay Singhal, the Thane municipal commissioner. He added civic workers are now fanning out to identify and treat those vulnerable.
Ashia interacted with key officials working at the grassroots on Wednesday. “In Malegaon, we focused mainly on identifying those with symptoms and isolating them, heightened contact tracing, and also stern enforcement of social distancing norms, among others, that helped control the numbers. I will analyse the situation here before fine-tuning the strategy,” he told TOI.