Mumbai: Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Special Engineering) and Chief Engineer (Water Supply Projects) of BMC, Shirish Dixit, who had tested positive for COVID-19, died late on Monday night, civic officials said.
The officer who lived in Mahim was involved in setting up of Jumbo COVID Care facilities like the ones installed at NESCO in Goregaon and NSCI in Worli. Dixit (54) was declared dead on Tuesday morning after his family members called and informed authorities about his health condition. He was asymptomatic and was pronounced dead when a team of officers reached his residence on Tuesday morning.
BMC officials, however, said that the cause of death is not yet clear, and it was also possible that Dixit may have died of a cardiac arrest, even though he was COVID-19 positive. According to officials in the BMC, Dixit himself insisted on getting himself tested two days ago, following which he was asked to visit a fever camp located in Mahim, where his swab samples were collected.
On Monday, while he was at work, a civic health officer informed him that he had tested positive for the infection and suggested that he go home and quarantine himself there as he was asymptomatic. Dixit left for home in the evening and is said to have passed away in his sleep on Monday night. "On Tuesday, when he did not wake up from sleep, his wife panicked and called the BMC requesting an ambulance. However, when the ambulance staff reached his home, they found that he had already passed away," said a senior BMC official. His body was shifted to LTMG hospital in Sion.
Dixit joined the BMC in 1987 as a trainee. Later, he was promoted to the post of 'Secondary Engineer' (Sub Engineer). In a career span of over 33 years, Dixit was instrumental in implementing many important water supply projects in and around Mumbai under the BMC.
Notable among these projects was the Bhandup Reservoir project, Bhandup Water Treatment Plant and a water distribution and supply project under the Central Vaitarna Project. He was also instrumental in constructing a 15-km-long water tunnel from Gundavali to Bhandup complex and also for giving impetus to the Gargai-Pinjal dam project.
"He was one of the most skilled and talented engineers the BMC had. We have lost one of our best. He was working until the last moment, and was indeed a frontline hero," said a senior BMC official. Shirish Dixit is survived by his wife and a daughter.
As on June 9, a total of 1712 civic employees have tested positive for COVID-19, while nearly 55 civic employees have succumbed to the infection. On Monday, the BMC commissioner had announced Rs 50 lakh compensation to the kin and families of civic employees who die due to COVID-19.
