"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh Pal
How do you tame a wild virus in a city of 12 million people? This petrifying thought was at the top of many minds when the first two cases of coronavirus were detected in Mumbai on March 11, 2020. Covid-19, which had brought big nations with robust health systems down to their knees, soon found its way to Mumbai’s densest localities, including Dharavi.
The coronavirus pandemic was Mumbai’s fourth encounter with a health emergency of an overwhelming scale. In 1896, the city had fought the bubonic plague. In 1918, the deadly Spanish Flu swept the city. Ninety-one years later, Mumbai was once again in the grip of a virus- Influenza H1N1. Then came the coronavirus, the biggest pandemic of the 21st century yet.
Suresh Kakani’s Mumbai Fights Back offers a blow by blow account of the challenges and triumphs of India’s richest civic body in fighting an invisible enemy for two years. From erecting mammoth field hospitals on open grounds to guaranteeing beds for every patient, the book rivetingly chronicles the united efforts by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to curb the transmission and save lives.
Suresh Kakani, Sumitra DebRoy
Suresh Kakani is an IAS officer from the 2003 batch. Born and raised in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, the M. Tech graduate has been a rank holder in the Maharashtra Public Service Commission. During his bureaucratic career spanning 35 years, Kakani has served in prominent positions, including the vice-chairman of Maharashtra Airport Development Company, Collector and District Magistrate of Nanded and Municipal Commissioner of Mira Bhayander. His professional journey includes a short assignment in Washington with the World Bank. In his tenure, he successfully operationalised multiple airports across Maharashtra. He became the Additional Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai in 2019. He has been instrumental in planning and implementing the 'Mumbai Model' that combined innovative and robust action plans to help the metropolis fight the coronavirus pandemic. The UC Berkley alumnus has been a recipient of numerous awards during his career.
Sumitra DebRoy is an award-winning health journalist with 17 years of work experience across India's three leading newspapers. She is currently working with The Times of India in Mumbai, where she has extensively covered the pandemic since the city's first case of Covid-19 arrived. Her previous stints have been with the Hindustan Times and Daily News and Analysis. She holds a postgraduate degree from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.
