Nearly ten percent of Mumbai's population is now living in Covid affected areas, marked as micro containment zones (MCZs), slum areas identified as Containment Zones (CZ) and Sealed Floors (SF) of residential buildings.
Mumbai has an approximate population of two crores and presently as many as 20 lakh Mumbaikars are living in the Covid affected zones.
As per the latest Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) data, as many as 12.92 lakh people are presently staying inside buildings with sealed floors, 4.05 lakh people are staying at MCZs and 5.34 lakh people are staying at slum areas marked as CZs.
Majority of this population is based at the western suburbs and upscale wards that has high number of high rises and gated societies.
When the pandemic was at its peak, last year, nearly 40 percent of the entire city's population was residing in sealed buildings and containment zones, however the percentage of population came down and varied between 12-15 percent after the first wave started to recede gradually. Earlier on April 28, nearly 30 lakh people were living the covid affected zones and owing to the fall in cases the number of containment zones has also started to decline.
Senior civic officials however pointed out that so many people are staying in the areas doesn't mean that all of them are covid affected.
"While there are 20 lakh people residing in containment zones, there are around five lakh active cases in Mumbai. If there are multiple cases in a building or household we have to seal its premises and all the other people living there are being marked as those living in containment zones," said an official.
If people continue to follow the rules and get them vaccinated then the number may fall by another ten percent in next three months," the official added.
Bhagyashree Kapse, assistant municipal commissioner and ward officer of R Central ward, which covers the Borivli area and has the highest number of buildings with SFs said that unlike February March only one or two cases are being reported from the buildings.
"The case tally has fallen sharply in the past ten days, earlier there were more than 50 containment zones in my ward but now the number has fallen to zero and we have only buildings with sealed floors," she said.
Vinayak Vispute, assistant municipal commissioner and in-charge of H west (HW) ward, that covers the Bandra West area has said that with people getting vaccinated day by day, the infection tally will fall automatically.
