UT will take call today on Sector 30-B containment zone

CHANDIGARH: The UT administration will take the final call on opening of Sector 30-B EWS Colony, a containment zone, on Friday.
UT adviser Manoj Parida said administrator VP Singh Badnore would take the decision in the war room meeting. However, earlier in the day, area councillor Devinder Babla claimed that the UT officers had agreed to open the entire containment zone.
The residents of the colony, who have been facing problems since their area was sealed on April 22, had come out on streets on Wednesday, demanding removal of the containment zone tag. Thereafter, the SDM had assured them that the UT would soon hold a meeting in this regard.
In a WhatsApp voice message, Babla claimed that the administration had agreed to open the containment zone and only paper work remained. He told the TOI that he had held a meeting with the deputy commissioner and other officials and when he told them about the problems being faced by the residents, they agreed to remove the tag.
On Wednesday, angry residents had warned that if the barricades were not removed in a day, they would do so themselves. To control the situation, the SDM had reached the spot and assured them that the administration would hold a review meeting. A UT official said the containment zone tag can only be removed after the condition of statutory 28 days from the detection of the last positive case was met. To date, two deaths have been reported from this containment zone, including that of an 80-year-old woman, who was found positive posthumously.
Declared affected pocket on April 22
The area, which has 600 houses, was declared an ‘affected pocket’ after a number of positive cases were reported on April 22. Later, the UT administration, on May 2, converted six affected pockets, including a part of Sector 30-B, into containment zone. So far, the UT administration has removed containment zone tag from three areas and as many are left, including Sector 30-B, Bapu Dham Colony and Kachi Colony, Dhanas.