Bapu Dham Colony has posed as a big challenge for the administration due to its proximity to the Sector 26 grain market too. (Express Photo)

Chandigarh’s hotspot Bapu Dham Colony from where city’s maximum cases are being reported Chandigarh’s hotspot Bapu Dham Colony from where city’s maximum cases are being reported is turning out to be a challenge for the authorities. For, the majority of the workforce in the city at the moment comes from Bapu Dham Colony, be it workers at the grain market or even police officials.

Municipal Commissioner K K Yadav said that 50 per cent of the labour working at the grain market comes from Bapu Dham. In fact, the majority of the workforce in the city, be it even the policemen, hail from Bapu Dham.

“We will set up a screening point at the entry point of the Bapu Dham Colony so that all those coming and going can be screened. Sealing has been done only in the affected pocket of the Bapu Dham,” Yadav said.

Yadav said that people need to be assured of the fact that “they won’t let the grain market be affected”. Of the 550 vendors, only 36 are from Bapu Dham Colony. From the affected pocket that has been sealed, no one can come out.

“However, before entering the grain market, there is a proper screening and sanitisation of each vendor. For the other workforce that comes from Bapu Dham, we have decided to set up a screening point at the entry itself,” he said.

Even as Bapu Dham Colony has turned out to be the real hotspot of the city with 21 cases, pool testing is not in sight at the moment, as per Health Secretary Arun Gupta. “Pool testing is allowed in certain conditions only,” Gupta said.

Bapu Dham Colony has posed as a big challenge for the administration due to its proximity to the Sector 26 grain market too.

As cases kept mounting, the authorities installed 14 CCTV cameras and 26 in the affected pocket of Sector 30-B . “Any officer, including the local police, can look for the violators on the phone itself. These cameras will help us in finding if people are violating social distancing norms,” Commissioner Yadav said.

Sector 30-B is another hotspot of the city where cases have been reported. It has an EWS colony with over 5,000 people. To contain the cases here is another challenge for the authorities.

Local councillor Devinder Singh Babla said that the policing was required to be strong as people were loitering inside the sealed area too.