PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is planning to adopt the micro cluster strategy from the first week of May to exit the Covid-19 lockdown and give some relief to people in the sealed areas, besides reducing the number of containment zones.
Under the new strategy, only a small area around a coronavirus patient’s home would be sealed. In the case of housing societies, only the building where the patient stays, and in the case of slums, only the pocket where a positive patient resides would be sealed.
Pune municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said the strategy was aimed at ensuring that people did not suffer unnecessarily. “The PMC had declared the entire city a containment zone based on the prevailing condition around a fortnight ago. Now, we shall review the status of the virus spread across the city. The relaxations in the containment zones would hinge on its outcome. We have to give relief to those not in the vicinity of the affected areas. Our strategy also aims at bringing city life back to normal with all precautionary measures,” he told TOI.
Gaikwad said 13 of the 15 ward offices were in the red zone at the time of imposing the restrictions. Now, the PMC would reduce the parameters for sealing from the ward office-level to smaller areas within the wards. It could be taken up at a micro-level such as a housing society or a slum pocket, he said.
The commissioner had first sealed the city’s core parts, including the Peth areas (Maharshinagar to RTO) and some locations in Kondhwa, on April 6. Following the spread of the virus, a few more areas, including Shivajinagar, Ahmednagar Road, Parvati and some areas on Satara Road, were added to the list of sealed areas on April 13. The decision to expand the containment zone to the whole city was taken on April 20.
Gaikwad said, “The PMC is keeping an eye on the decisions of the Union and state governments regarding the lockdown. The final call about relaxing the containment zones in the city will be taken according to their directives.”
According to the PMC officials, the areas would be categorised into green, orange and red zones based on the number of Covid-19 positive cases and deaths. Early relaxations are likely in the green zones, while some concessions would be offered in the orange zone. The red zones would have the least relaxations.
Earlier, restrictions were imposed on the movement of citizens after the containment zones were declared. With the whole city now a containment zone, entry and exit from the city has been barred. Internal transport and travels have also been restricted. Only vehicles and people offering essential services, the media and those working for the mitigation of the Covid-19 spread can now commute.
Under the new strategy, only a small area around a coronavirus patient’s home would be sealed. In the case of housing societies, only the building where the patient stays, and in the case of slums, only the pocket where a positive patient resides would be sealed.
Pune municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said the strategy was aimed at ensuring that people did not suffer unnecessarily. “The PMC had declared the entire city a containment zone based on the prevailing condition around a fortnight ago. Now, we shall review the status of the virus spread across the city. The relaxations in the containment zones would hinge on its outcome. We have to give relief to those not in the vicinity of the affected areas. Our strategy also aims at bringing city life back to normal with all precautionary measures,” he told TOI.
Gaikwad said 13 of the 15 ward offices were in the red zone at the time of imposing the restrictions. Now, the PMC would reduce the parameters for sealing from the ward office-level to smaller areas within the wards. It could be taken up at a micro-level such as a housing society or a slum pocket, he said.
The commissioner had first sealed the city’s core parts, including the Peth areas (Maharshinagar to RTO) and some locations in Kondhwa, on April 6. Following the spread of the virus, a few more areas, including Shivajinagar, Ahmednagar Road, Parvati and some areas on Satara Road, were added to the list of sealed areas on April 13. The decision to expand the containment zone to the whole city was taken on April 20.
Gaikwad said, “The PMC is keeping an eye on the decisions of the Union and state governments regarding the lockdown. The final call about relaxing the containment zones in the city will be taken according to their directives.”
According to the PMC officials, the areas would be categorised into green, orange and red zones based on the number of Covid-19 positive cases and deaths. Early relaxations are likely in the green zones, while some concessions would be offered in the orange zone. The red zones would have the least relaxations.
Earlier, restrictions were imposed on the movement of citizens after the containment zones were declared. With the whole city now a containment zone, entry and exit from the city has been barred. Internal transport and travels have also been restricted. Only vehicles and people offering essential services, the media and those working for the mitigation of the Covid-19 spread can now commute.
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