Minhaz Merchant on Mumbai MC Commissioner and Covid warrior Iqbal Singh Chahal

Renu Sud Sinha

He took over Mumbai’s Covid battle at its worst — and that too of his own volition. A Central team, on a visit to Maharashtra in the first week of May 2020, called it a dangerous situation, even raising concerns that the state government was trying to hide facts. Capital Mumbai’s inadequate health infrastructure was crumbling. Slum-dwellers were being prescribed paracetamol instead of a Covid test.

Half of its 15 million population lives in 55 slums; Dharavi alone houses 6.5 lakh people. Social distancing was unachievable where 2,27,136 persons lived per sq km with families of eight to 10 in 10×10 rooms. At least 80 per cent used its 450 public toilets. The slum had a death rate of nearly 10 a day in the initial months.

It was then that Iqbal Singh Chahal (56), a 1989-batch IAS officer, was asked to lead the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) along with a co-commissioner, on May 8. Chahal, who cracked the UPSC at 22, chose to shoulder the burden by himself. Within hours of taking charge, he donned a PPE kit, visiting major hospitals and Dharavi, taking stock.

It was a gargantuan task, with his father-in-law Ajit Singh Chatha, former Punjab Chief Secretary, wondering whether to congratulate him. Chahal, known for his risk-taking appetite, decided to chase the virus, using every out-of-box solution in his arsenal.

Within a few weeks, the MCGM had enough quarantine beds, testing was aggressive; all major private hospitals were on board, handing over their ICUs and other wards; 800 vehicles were converted into ambulances and public toilets were being sanitised six times a day. Staff shortage, both medical and general, was overcome by roping in retired doctors, young MBBS students awaiting degrees, private doctors in slums, teachers, community leaders.

Some ideas raised brows, like when he abolished the single command centre and established decentralised 24 centres all across Mumbai. Others seemed impossible such as the proposal to set up field hospitals. In the end, these 11 jumbos, established in just a couple of months, were the game-changers.

Eventually, all the innovative strategies he used to fight the pandemic were dubbed as ‘The Mumbai Model’ — being appreciated equally by the Supreme Court as well as global media and leaders.

His proactive approach about oxygen usage and distribution saved many lives during the second wave, when the whole country was facing an oxygen crisis.

There were battles with Nature too during the two-year Covid war. During the dreaded Mumbai monsoon and cyclone Nisarga threat in 2020, particularly in field hospitals and containment zones in low-lying areas, Chahal tackled everything head-on, landing him 11 awards. His vigilance and the zeal to tame the virus is still high as at least 10 million Mumbaikars are fully vaccinated, with nearly eight lakh jabbed with booster dose. The book, while lauding Chahal’s extraordinary feat, also documents what went into taming the pandemic, and should be useful long after.