The area houses around 55,000 people, most of them labourers.(Representational/File)
THE PRESENCE of police personnel was enhanced from 95 to around 190 including paramilitary forces as all of Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26, was barricaded to restrict movement of local residents as 10 more people from there tested positive.
The colony was barricaded with bamboo tied together using ropes on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. The area houses around 55,000 people, most of them labourers. So far, 58 people out of the city’s 111 coronavirus patients are from Bapu Dham Colony. Twelve paramilitary force personnel have also been deployed here.
“In the last two days, a few people who lived far away from the locality of the GMCH-32 ward boy who had COVID-19 (detected on May 21), tested positive. At least four fresh cases are residing in a separate block from the lane of the ward boy. One of the patients has a shop at her house. The second patient used to visit the shop. Two family members of the second patient also tested positive. The three live in one house. And there are around 13 tenants living in a room on the top of the house of the family. The family has a triple-storey house.”
A officer deputing for tracing the contact history of the patients, said, “It appears to spreading like bushfire in Bapu Dham Colony. A total of 41 people including the tenants and two families reside in the triple-storey building from where three persons tested positive today. There are countless shops of grocery items, beauty parlours, saloons, eating points, sweet shops etc. being operated from inside the houses. Moreover, every third house has tenants and majority of tenants are labourers, rickshaw pullers, rehri pullers. The reason behind is the nearby transport area and grain market in Sector 26. The suspects cases in the colony are being shifted to quarantine in Sector 45, Sector 47 and other hospitals.”
Cop stops going home
Newly appointed in-charge of Bapu Dham police post S-I Rohtash Kumar, has not visited his house since after joining duty on April 29. He said, “I preferred to not visit my house. I have my clothes, uniform and other things all there. We are following all the precautions, adopting security measures but still the colony area in vulnerable.”