While high-rises are released after a 14-day quarantine, slum pockets have been sealed for several weeks to limit peoples movement
BMC health workers examine residents of Siddha Rameshwar Chawl near Pant Nagar. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
While the number of active COVID-19 patients in the city hovers around 23,000, 52.3 lakh people in Mumbai are still living in Containment Zones (CZ). While the number of active patients in slums is lower than that in high-rises, the movement of 42.4 lakh people in slums is still restricted and 9.9 lakh people are living in sealed buildings.
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While the municipal commissioner assured that the city will not have more lockdowns, those still living in CZs are only allowed to go out for essential needs. The number of high-rises in CZs is 6,173, much higher than 677 CZs in slums.
Police nakabandi in Mahim. Pic/Ashish Raje
High-rises are opened up after 14 days of quarantine. But the sealed areas of slum pockets have been locked down for over a month or two. "There are complex structures of small lanes in slums. After the re-opening on June 1, suddenly movement started in these areas which cannot be regulated with limited manpower. so it is advisable to seal the areas to contain the spread of the virus," said a ward officer in North Mumbai. While Kurla, Govandi-Deonar and Bhandup have a large number of slum pockets, Malad has over 3 lakh slum-dwellers living under very strict conditions.
So far, the BMC has sealed over 18,000 buildings in the city, out of which 12,160 have been released after completion of the quarantine period. The maximum number of sealed buildings are in zone VII — from Dahisar to Kandivli. While Borivali has 877 sealed buildings, Kandivli has 594, Malad has 471 and Andheri E, Vileparle E have 711. Deputy Municipal Commissioner Vishwas Shankarvar of Zone VII said earlier only one floor of buildings used to be sealed, but now the whole building is shut as number of patients increased rapidly.
9.9 lakh
No. of people in sealed buildings
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