To ensure residents do not flout Covid-19 norms, BMC ward officials have started to hold meetings with office bearers of housing societies in their ward.
According to the BMC data, there are 6.57 lakh patients under home quarantine and civic officials have said that they are working towards making home quarantine more comfortable and reliable for patients.
Parag Masurkar, BMC deputy commissioner, said that all the office bearers of cooperative housing societies under his jurisdiction have been told to maintain two different registers for keeping a record of visitors. One register will keep a record of the regular visitors -- house helps and drivers while the other register will keep a record of guests and non-regular visitors.
"This method is helping us detect close contacts at an early stage if a positive case is detected in a society," Masurkar explained.
Officials also added that local ward offices have started to form mini surveillance groups, which are making visits to the buildings which are either sealed or have sealed floors inside them. “We have appointed marshals to keep a check on these buildings on a regular basis. We have warned office bearers that if anyone is found flouting norms, the entire society will be fined," said a senior civic official.
Bhagyashree Kapse, assistant municipal commissioner and incharge of R Central (Borivali) ward, said that in her ward there are 22 buildings which have been sealed and the list of those buildings have been handed over to local police station, who are carrying out regular surveillance in these buildings. "The volunteers of our war room are calling up each patient regularly to check up whether they are staying indoors," Kapse told FPJ.
Meanwhile housing societies have also formed their own laws to ensure residents don't flout norms.
Madhu Poplai, secretary of The Pali Hill Residents' Association said that they have issued a notice saying those roaming without a mask in the premises will be fined Rs 1,000. Rakesh Diwan, chairman of Excelsior Heights, Santacruz said that their society has decided to fine the owner of an apartment Rs 10,000 if more than five guests visit at a time.
"The housing societies have become cautious and many of them are now formulating their own rules for safety measures, this somehow is keeping flouters in check," said Asif Zakaria, Congress corporator from Bandra.