Anandnagar rises in protest against containment, cops use force to quell it

Police barricades, booths, vehicles vandalised by slum residents sealed off from jobs, not getting enough rations

On the day the country edged towards unlock mode from the COVID-19 lockdown, residents of Anandnagar — a slum in Chinchwad — lost their patience with remaining a containment zone. Revolting against the restrictive status, they took to the streets, venting ire with the establishment, lobbing stones at police vehicles and booths. With 500 of them crowding the streets on Monday afternoon, protesting against the lack of food and essential supplies, the cops had to call in extra forces to control the uproar.


The slum, which reported over 200 COVID-19-positive patients within a span of 25 days, was sealed on May 15. The residents there clearly did not appreciate the move and already rallied against it on May 20 itself. As daily wage earners, their inability to go out to work has financially crippled them. With even essential services shut in the area, they are running out of basic provisions — and Monday’s protest sought to underscore their situation, only, it got violent with government property being vandalised.

“The government has relaxed lockdown rules, allowing trade and business to take off. But we are pinned down to our homes, without any facilities being provided by the administration. We are not even allowed to go to work and have no money. We’re unable to buy ration. The administration is paying no attention to our condition and simply playing politics,” an Anandnagar resident said.

With angst raging, police could not control the protesters. All their pleas for people to return home fell on deaf ears as residents took out their anger on police booths, barricades and vehicles. Finally, additional forces were called in and the crowd dispersed with lathicharge.

Recounting the events of the harrowing afternoon, Ravindra Jadhav, senior police inspector at Chinchwad police station, said, “At 3 pm, a crowd suddenly gathered on the road demanding relaxation of norms — that they be allowed to go out for work, dependent as they are on daily wages. We tried explaining the pandemic constraints against allowing that, but they were in no mood to listen, forcing us to resort to strict action to control the situation.”

Similarly, Ramnath Pokale, additional police commissioner with the Pimpri-Chinchwad police commissionerate, pointed out, “People seemed to be in a panic, having been under containment since May 15. The crowd mostly comprised women who were protesting the lack of provisions for food and also their lack of income, with all entry and exits of the slum sealed off. While we deployed additional force to control the situation, we’re perusing the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to identify the people behind this protest. We will definitely take serious action in the case.”

All efforts to reach Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) commissioner Shravan Hardikar regarding this incident did not elicit any response.