A day after civic Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad issued an apology for boarding up two flats in an apartment complex in Domlur with metal sheets, another such instance has come to light. On July 18, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials had sealed the only entryway of a two-storey building in Vivekanagar Further Extension.
This was done after a 17-year-old resident tested positive for COVID-19. The teenager, who is asymptomatic, is currently in home isolation. The sheets were removed after five days on Friday following the outrage in Domlur.
Siddeshwar M.B., the house owner, tried to reason with BBMP staff when they came to seal the house. “They claimed they had been ordered to do so. I asked them to show me the written order. All my pleas to cordon off the road and not seal the gate fell on deaf ears,” he said, adding that he was a diabetic, and his wife was asthmatic.
“What if there had been a medical emergency? How long can we depend on neighbours to buy us essential items, such as milk and medicines?” He claimed to have called multiple helplines and officials. “I even called the office of the Governor and the BBMP Commissioner… but I did not get any response.”
Local councillor Shivakumar K. told The Hindu that the COVID-19 positive person had completed eight days of home isolation. “I have tested positive and am isolating myself at home,” he said
BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said following Thursday’s incident, he had instructed all the zonal commissioners to ensure that houses and flats are not sealed with metal sheets. “Stringent action would be initiated against any official for allowing such sealing,” he said.