Kolkata: Containment zone breather for Salt Lake, New Town

KOLKATA: Salt Lake and New Town walked out free, while new areas in Bangur, Dum Dum, Nagerbazar, Jessore Road and Duttabad entered the containment zone list, which was revised on Friday for areas under Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation and South Dum Dum municipality.
The two latest containment areas in Salt Lake—FE and IB Blocks—and a neighbourhood in Kestopur’s Samarpally have been removed from the high-risk list as no new Covid case has been reported from there. But a new locality of Duttabad and two lanes at Deshbandhunagar in Kestopur have entered the list, which also included the earlier containment areas of Sukantanagar and Duttabad.
Bidhannagar civic authorities pointed out that most new Covid patients were from Baguiati, Kestopur and Duttabad, while only a few scattered cases being reported from in Salt Lake. Going by their estimate, Salt Lake has contributed to about 35% of the 2,500-odd Covid cases reported in the civic area. But Duttabad, situated on E M Bypass on the fringe of Salt Lake, has become a matter of worry as the densely populated, predominantly slum area has become a Covid hot spot, with about 50 people there getting affected. “We are conducting regular sanitization drive and urging people to follow norms,” said Ward 38 councillor Nirmal Dutta.
The Bidhannagar civic authorities said they were no longer meticulous about keeping shops in Salt Lake open only on alternate days as the entire state was undergoing total lockdowns on several days and markets in the township anyway remained shut once a week. But sanitization of markets was on.
In South Dum Dum municipality area, several lanes of Block B in Bangur Avenue have entered the revised containment list. Also, a large stretch from Motijheel to Dum Dum Station Bazar on Dum Dum Road and from Nagerbazar to Bhagabati Park Bazar on Jessore Road continued to be under the high-risk category. With a rise in cases, Motilal Bazar, Kumorpara Bazar and Gora Bazar have also been kept under watch. With 800 cases so far and 300 active cases now, the South Dum Dum municipality authorities, which had earlier enforced a partial lockdown in the area, now plans to completely shut down the neighbourhoods twice a week to ensure restricted movements in markets and other busy areas.