Gurugram: In Unlock, MCG for odd-even walk days

GURUGRAM: As the city looks to open up activities in Unlock 2.0, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has once again come out with an advisory on walks in common areas and parks for residents in order to avoid crowding and maintain social distancing.
The civic body has suggested that resident welfare associations (RWAs) can have staggered timings for morning and evening walks, between 5am and 10pm, and also implement the same on the basis of odd and even house numbers.
This is not the first time a directive on these lines has been issued by the MCG. On May 21, it had directed RWAs to restrict walks between 7am and 7pm in condominiums and group housing societies.
The new guidelines to outline the RWAs’ responsibilities in the city’s Covid-19 management were announced late Tuesday night. They will remain in place till July 31.
Among other steps recommended, the RWAs have also been asked to cooperate in a health survey, identify those who may be ‘vulnerable’ and put up ‘home isolation’ notices outside houses of Covid patients and enforce quarantine of their family members.
“We have called a meeting of our advisory council on Saturday to discuss how to implement the MCG’s directions. I think residents might object to the odd-even system for morning and evening walks, but we will try to find a solution,” said Kuldeep Rana, president of Suncity RWA.
V K Singh, a resident of Suncity, told TOI expressed doubts. “I am a heart patient and have been advised to walk for at least 40 minutes every day. However, if the odd-even system is implemented, where will people like me go for a walk? Also, if they try to divide the day in two and keep one half for odd house numbers and one for even, that will not help since most peosple prefer to walk in the morning in the summer heat,” he said.
Meanwhile, RWAs have been directed to allow entry and exit, with precautions like thermal scanning and hand sanitisation, for all those who have rejoined their workplaces. Residents staying in containment zones or large outbreak regions, as well as those who have tested positive for Covid-19 or are in quarantine, will not be allowed to go to office.
Some RWAs welcomed the MCG move, saying it will enable them to take decisions at the ‘micro level’. “RWAs have a good knowledge about their areas and interact daily with the residents,” said Dhruv Bansal, the spo-kesperson of Qutub Enclave RWA.