By IANS,
Pune : In a drastic measure to curb the swine flu pandemic that has already killed three people in this city, the Maharashtra government Monday decided to shut down schools and businesses for periods ranging from three to seven days in the entire Pune-Pimpri-Chinchwad area.
All educational institutions shall be shut down till Aug 17 in Pune, the state’s IT capital, and the twin cities of Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar said in the afternoon.
Similarly, malls where huge crowds gather, increasing the risk of swine flu, shall remain shut for a week.
Multiplexes and cinema halls shall be closed for the next three days, he said.
“The decision came in the wake of a high-level meeting organised by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, authorising the district administrations to take appropriate steps in the matter,” Ajit Pawar told reporters.
Following this, Pawar held a meeting of the district’s top civil, police, health and education officials.
The decisions were prompted by the third swine flu death in the city — and fourth in the state in one week — as the number of H1N1 cases has been rising at an alarming rate. The victims from Maharashtra include a minor girl, a woman and two men, including a medico and a teacher.
The total number of swine flue deaths in the country touched six Monday. A women from Nagpur succumbed to the disease in Singapore.
In a related development, two more Mumbai schools — St. Dominic Savio National Open School, Andheri east and Arya vidya mandir school in juhu — were declared shut for a week Monday after two students were found positive in the andheri school and one in the school in juhu. The infected students have been admitted to a government health centre, according to officials.
Last week, the Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Bandra-Kurla Complex and the J.B. Vachha School, Matunga were shut for a week after some of their students were detected with H1N1 virus.