The Karnataka High Court on Thursday directed the State government to strictly enforce the protocol of Containment Zones (CZs) using its machinery as the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) disclosed to the court that CZs are not completely sealed down and people can move in and out of the around 3,181 such zones across the city.
If what the BBMP has stated is true, and public are allowed to move in and out of CZs, then the court will have to treat it seriously as the actions of the BBMP amount to a serious breach of the protocol and the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the court observed.
A special division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar passed the order while hearing through video conferencing the PIL petitions related to issues arisen due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Earlier, the BBMP counsel said that it has not identified the needy people requiring food in CZs as people residing in these zones can move in and out of the zones for jobs and to purchase ration as restrictions are not stringent. The counsel also contended that the BBMP could not identify 900 families in a few CZs requiring food as per the details provided by a non-governmental organisation.
The bench said that the actions of the BBMP are contrary to the SOP issued by the State government on April 17 as well as the order passed by the civic Commissioner on managing CZs. The bench also said that the BBMP has failed to comply with its earlier direction to provide food to the 900 families.
The April 17 circular and SOP state that a containment zone should be completely sealed with no movement of people outside their houses even for basic necessities.
The bench also directed the State government to ensure supply of food for needy persons in the CZs besides health services to those residing in all the CZs.