Mumbai: Number of sealed buildings lowest since May

A file photo of people in a containment zone in Parel village purchasing essentials

Indicating reduced transmission of COVID-19, the number of containment zones (CZ) and sealed buildings in the city has dropped further. While there isn't any restriction on movement in these areas, they still exist on paper to control certain activities and to take action in emergencies. While there are 2,587 sealed buildings, the least since May, active CZs in slums stand at 286.

On paper, there are 27.97 lakh people in these restricted zones.

The BMC started sealing slum areas and buildings in April and the peak was in the last week of June when over half the population - 61.7 lakh - was living under restrictions. On June 27, there were 726 CZs with 10.9 lakh households and 47.1 lakh people. Bhandup, Mankhurd, Govandi, Kurla had a high number of CZs. There were also 5,831 sealed buildings with 14.6 lakh people. In June, COVID patients in slums also started decreasing.

Health workers screen residents of Kajupada, a containment zone, in Borivli in June. File pic

In mid-September, when the city had the highest number of active COVID patients - 34,136 - the number of sealed buildings was 9,968, out of which 2,584 were from Kandivli and Borivli.

While the number of sealed buildings changed with new cases and recoveries, the situation was different for CZs as cases would be spread across large areas and the CZ would remain active for months.

However, recently, the civic body has opened up most CZs, with the remaining ones being in Bhandup, Jogeshwari, Dharavi, Malad, and Kurla, among others. "Most of the areas in Malad were CZs till July. Many CZs have opened now with zero cases for over a month. But we have kept certain areas under observation and restricted the opening of clubs, bars. There aren't many restrictions on the movement of common people," said Sanjog Kabre, assistant commissioner of P North (Malad) ward.
Kabre added that CZs are used to restrict festivities.

61.7 lakh
No. of people living in restricted areas across the city in June

Restricted areas

Slums
286 CZs
4.72 lakh houses
20.23 lakh people

Buildings
2,587 sealed buildings
1.97 lakh houses
7.74 lakh people

(As on December 27)