With a huge surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the city, the concept of containment zones and sealing them appears to have taken a back seat.
A containment zone within BBMP limits is 50 metres on either side of the street in case of an independent house. In case of an apartment, the floors above and below would be the limits of the containment zone. In a slum, the containment zone is an area within a radius of 200 metres of the house where a positive case is detected.
Many residents The Hindu spoke to said that officials of the civic body had only decided to place home quarantine stickers outside the homes of people who had tested positive. A resident of north Bengaluru, whose neighbour has tested positive, said, “We thought our houses would be sealed. We immediately went out and stocked up on groceries. But, more than a week after our neighbour tested positive, there is no sign of sealing.”
In many other instances, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) that The Hindu spoke to mentioned that many residents had decided to relocate and move out of their homes temporarily after they learnt of neighbours testing positive. “The residents feel that they will be put to hardship if their areas are sealed. Some others fear that they might contract the virus and, hence, decided to move out,” said a member of a RWA in north Bengaluru.
In some instances, the barricades around containment zones have been removed much before the 14-day period. Residents also allege that sanitisation of localities is not up to the mark.
A member of Whitefield Rising said that with an increase in the number of cases, the response time of the civic body had increased. “While the BBMP has not been responding fast, communities themselves are taking precautionary measures as they are concerned. The civic body staff, who are working on the ground, are stretched. There is a need to increase the manpower deployed,” the member said.
The High Court of Karnataka had recently pulled up the government for not identifying the needy and senior citizens in containment zones and providing them all the facilities they need.
BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said that the engineering staff were vested with the responsibility of sealing containment zones and said that he would look into these complaints.