Mumbai: The numbers of Covid 19 positive cases Dharvi –known to be Asia’s largest slum – jumps to 180 after 12 fresh cases including death were reported on Tuesday. Intensifying its efforts to contain the spread, the civic body has declared five dense slum pockets in the area as containment zones and has sealed them.
So far, 12 people have died due to Covid-19 in Dharavi. Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of G (South) ward, said that there are many reasons for the steep rise in positive cases in the last 4-5 days across Dharavi.
“We have identified the high-risk zones in the slums. Apart from Dr Baliga Nagar, where the first case was detected, other areas are Mukund Nagar, Madina Nagar Muslim Nagar Social Nagar and Kalyanwadi,” he said. “The population of all these pockets is 1.25 lakh.
We have decided to contain these pockets by providing all services at their doorstep. Under our initiative Mission Dharavi, we have also organised dedicated fever camps in the area. Further, with the help of 24 private doctors we have formed 10 teams and did fever screenings in all these pockets,” Dighavkar added.
Of the five areas put under complete lockdown, Kalyanwadi slums reported 44 cases, Madina Nagar and adjoining Muslim Nagar reported 23 cases, Social Nagar has 13 positive Covid cases and Dr Baliga Nagar reported six cases so far.
Altogether, these five slum pockets identified as high-risk zones account for 62% (113) of the total cases (180) reported in Dharavi. On Monday, Dharavi recorded 30new Covid-19 cases, taking the number of total confirmed infections to 168.
Of the 30 cases, five were reported from Shastri Nagar area, 3 each from 60 Feet Road and Kalyanwadi, two each from Naik Nagar and Kunche Kurve Nagar, one case each from Minajuddin Khan Gala, PMGP Colony, Padmagopal Chawl, Dhorwada, Matunga Labour Camp and Mukund Nagar, and eight cases have been traced to Dharavi, though the exact residential area isn’t mentioned, according to Dighavkar.
