The committees for ward-level monitoring of the large number of people who will be returning home from overseas and from other States were formed in most wards by Tuesday. In addition to this, five area-level committees have also been formed in each of the wards.
The civic body formed these committees as per instructions issued by the State government to all local bodies. As the Corporation had earlier formed groups of volunteers in each ward even before the lockdown to keep track of those in home quarantine, forming the committees was an easier task. The volunteers had, during those initial days, ensured that those in home quarantine did not get outside their houses. In a few such cases, warnings were issued.
But, the new ward-level committees are a more formal arrangement. The members include representatives of residents’ associations, Janamaithri police, village officers, Kudumbashree members, volunteers, anganwadi teachers/workers, health workers from the National Health Mission, SC/ST promoters, ASHA workers, government employees, and representatives of political parties.
“The main ward-level committees and the area committees have been formed in most wards. Their first meetings will be held on Wednesday, in which each of them will take stock of the situation in the wards, take the number and locations of people in home quarantine, and also identify persons in the neighbouring areas, who can keep track of their movements. But, now with people being more aware than in the initial days, we do not expect a lot of them to try and move outside their houses,” said a Corporation official.
Aiding them in the monitoring activities will be the mobile application ‘COME’, with one or two officials in each area committee being given login access to it, to feed the local-level data. Information about those breaking quarantine will be immediately handed over to police officials, and the offender will be shifted to an institutional facility.