Dharavi cordoned off; screening of residents begins

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai,  April 11

Asia’s biggest slum Dharavi has been cordoned off and the administration has begun door-to-door screening of around 8 lakh people who live there even as four people have so far died of the virus.

Officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said teams of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers have begun carrying out thermal screening of the residents. The entire slum spread over 2.1 km has been divided into multiple zones with teams of

healthcare workers knocking on doors to check for people showing symptoms of the virus, officials said.

According to sources, multiple rounds of screening will be held in the slum cluster over the next ten days.

The public toilets used by the residents are being cleaned multiple times a day using high pressure jet sprays by the Mumbai Fire Brigade, according to Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi.

According to data available from the BMC, 28 people from Dharavi tested positive for the coronavirus until Friday. The death toll has gone up to four with an 80-year old woman succumbing to the virus at the Kasturba Hospital on Saturday, officials said.

With shacks as tiny as 100 square feet housing 8-10 people,

the administration has requisitioned the premises belonging to the National Sports Club of India in Mumbai’s Worli to quarantine those awaiting their test results, officials said.

”The NSCI Dome being transformed into a huge quarantine centre as we step up our contact tracing and testing….. Ensuring that carriers are isolated for their own safety and for that of others,” Aditya Thackeray, minister of tourism and environment said on Twitter. So far 300 beds have been arranged at the NSCI complex and this is likely to be increased if required, according to sources.

Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the state government has deployed drones to spray disinfectants in Dharavi. The State Reserve Police Force has also been brought into augment the local police for the exercise, he added.

As of Saturday afternoon, Maharashtra had reported 92 new positive cases taking the total number of coronavirus patientsin the state to 1,666. Most of the patients are in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Pimpri and Chinchwad, according to officials.