Caution thrown to wind in Ludhiana containment zones

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 30

The number of cases in Ludhiana district are rising and at present, there are 33 zones under curbs. Ideally, when any area is declared a containment or micro-containment zone, it has to be sealed, with nobody moving in and out while only the supply of essential goods being ensured. The police have to ensure restriction of movement.

However, a visit to a few containment zones in the city showed a totally opposite picture. At present, there are five containment zones and 31 micro-containment zones, which also include some of the posh localities of the city.

Block B of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar was declared a containment zone on August 28 after 25 cases were detected from the area. Since the block has gates all around it, the area residents took the initiative and got these closed. However, no cop was seen on duty and there were only a couple of barricades put in front of the closed gates.

“Although the Sarabha Nagar police station is right in front of the block, nobody bothered to put a cop on duty. Sometimes, a cop is on duty on one gate but not always,” a resident of B Block said.

Surprisingly, some people were not even aware about their area being declared a micro-containment zone.

A stretch of Sham Singh Road, from Bhuri wala Mandir to Jain Mandir, was declared a micro-containment zone on August 10. But when residents were asked if they were aware of it, they denied.

“We have heard that a few people have tested positive but we are not aware regarding their exact location. Home quarantine posters have not been pasted outside their houses. We got to know from you about the containment zone status,” an area resident said.

At Rajguru Nagar, during the time it was declared a micro-containment zone, there was nothing except a rope attached to the trees barring the way, with ‘sealed area’ written on a plain paper. People could be seen moving out with their two wheelers and cars from under the rope.

Meanwhile, Civil Surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga said, “As soon as an area is declared a micro-containment zone, no movement is allowed and police need to be there 24X7. Only essential services are allowed within the perimeter.”

However, despite repeated attempts, Police Commissioner Rakesh Agrawal could not be reached for comments.