Mumbai: With Dharavi emerging as a Covid-19 hotspot, the worried Maharashtra cabinet on Thursday decided to deploy the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) in the area to ensure strict implementation of the nationwide lockdown.
The cabinet also decided to sanitise Dharavi daily with the help of the Fire Brigade and by using drones, and to start community kitchens to ensure doorstep delivery of food for the jobless and poor.
As many as 17 coronavirus cases, including three fatalities, have been reported in Dharavi. On Thursday, a 70- year-old woman from Kalyanwadi in Dharavi, who had tested positive, died.
Of the 17 cases, five, including a fatality, were reported from SRA buildings in Dr Baliga Nagar, where six members of the Tablighi Jamaat and their wives stayed after returning from the congregation at New Delhi.
Three cases have also been reported from the densely populated slums of Mulund Nagar. “Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi made a power point presentation before the cabinet about the coronavirus outbreak in Mumbai, especially in Dharavi.
On Wednesday, cabinet ministers from Mumbai and I visited Dharavi and reviewed the ground situation. We shared our experiences in the cabinet meeting.
After this, the cabinet decided to deploy SRPF. Though the police department is doing a great job, we need SRPF for strict implementation of the lockdown, especially in the congested area of Dharavi,” said state public health minister Rajesh Tope. Drones will be used for surveillance in the area, in addition to the existing CCTV network.
We observed that there are very few toilets in Dharavi. A single public toilet seat is used by at least 200 persons in a single day. In such a situation, how can cleanliness be ensured? Therefore, we decide to use the Fire brigade and deploy drones to sanitise Dharavi.
Fire brigade vehicles are equipped with power jet technology, which will be used for sanitisation and cleaning of toilets every one or two hours. The drones will spray sanitisers,” Tope added.
“We also discussed relief programmes for the poor and workers engaged in cottage and small-scale industries in Dharavi. Though they are getting cooked food from non-governmental organisations like ISKCON or Sri Ravishankar’s organisation, this food is not enough.
The cabinet directed the administration to start community kitchens by taking people’s representatives into confidence and ensuring doorstep delivery of cooked food for needy people,” the minister added. Schools for residents, tests for frontline medics: ‘
‘In Dhravi, 10 to 15 people share a single room. It is difficult to maintain social distancing in such a situation, even if they stay at home. Therefore, these people may come out on the road. The state government has decided to open up schools which are currently closed and make staying arrangements for these people in the schools, to ensure social distancing,” Tope said.
“Currently, doctors and medical workers are fighting against coronavirus as frontline workers. The BMC has placed an order for one lakh rapid testing kits. After delivery of these kits, testing of all frontline workers, including doctors, will be done first.
If anybody is found positive, they will not be engaged in this emergency service,” he added. Cluster screening by BMC: A day after suggesting that Dharvi should be completely locked down, MP Rahul Shewale has demanded door-to-door screening of all residents of Dharavi. In a meeting with the ward officer of G (North) ward on Thursday, Shewale raised his concerns.
Meanwhile, asst civic chief of G (North) ward Kiran Dighavkar told FPJ his team has already started cluster screening in Dahisar, including worst-hit Dr Baliga Nagar, Mukund Nagar.
“We are already screening residents as suggested by MP Shewale. We will not increase the number of teams for screening. All symptomatic people are being taken to the nearby Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex, "Dighavkar said.
