The number of containment zones in the city has gone down but the barricades and asbestos sheets that were set up to control access have not yet been removed from several areas. Though officials from Health Department and Greater Chennai Corporation said it would be done only after the cases reduce, residents alleged that workers were demanding money for removing them.
Chennai:
Raghu Balakrishnan*, a 52-year-old COVID-19 patient from Choolaimedu, was discharged from the hospital and sent home in June 30. As part of the containment measures, the civic authorities had barricaded his house as his wife was in home quarantine for 14 days. However, even after the completion of the quarantine period, they were not removed for more than a fortnight. When the family requested the civic officials, they allegedly asked Rs 1,000 to remove the barricades.
"My wife asked the civic body workers on duty to remove the barricades as we had recovered and the mandatory quarantine period was over. They asked us to pay Rs 1,000 to the conservancy worker to get the barricades and asbestos sheets removed," said Raghu.
According to a Corporation worker from Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar zone, some of the residents who completed their quarantine period offered money to the workers to remove the barricades.
When contacted, Anna Nagar zonal officer P Sundararajan said that the barricades were removed after the completion of 14 days of quarantine, and added that residents need not pay any money to the workers for this.