E-Paper
Despite rising Covid-19 cases in Ludhiana, disinfection drives missing
Sanitisation drives in internal areas of the city with backpack machines have been halted
While extensive sanitisation/disinfection drives were conducted in the city during March, April and May when number of Covid-19 cases were low in the city, sanitisation machines have gone missing from city roads at a time when Ludhiana has become the ‘Covid capital of Punjab’. Sanitisation drives in internal areas of the city with backpack machines have also been halted.
Residents are demanding that the municipal corporation (MC) and district administration should start sanitising the city again as markets have reopened and are visited by large numbers of residents daily. Wherever possible, shopkeepers should be told to sanitise their respective establishments.
Till mid May, nine jetting machines and fire tenders were deployed by the MC to sanitise city roads and internal areas. Also, backpack machines were provided to councillors for sanitising internal areas of their respective wards.
Paramjeet Singh Sarna, general secretary, welfare council of Model Town extension block B, Bx and Cx, said,”Nothing is being done to sanitise the city even when large numbers of positive cases are being reported daily. The residents appreciated the MC’s efforts when it initiated sanitisation drives in the city in the initial months of lockdown, but nothing is being done when it is required the most. The state government and administration are claiming that the situation in Ludhiana is alarming, but necessary steps are not being taken.”
Leader of opposition in general House of MC, SAD councillor Harbhajan Singh Dang, said, “No disinfectant is being provided by the MC, due to which sanitisation drives have been halted. Despite surging Covid-19 cases, the civic body is not paying heed to the problem.”
Relatives of Covid patients also rued that their houses and areas are not being sanitised by the MC. A resident of Field Ganj, Jagmeet Singh, said, “My mother tested positive for the virus in the last week of July and was admitted to a hospital. Initially, no one came to sanitise our area or house. When we contacted the councillor, an MC employee came with a backpack machine, but he did not even enter the house and just sprayed the door instead.”
A resident of Nehru Nagar, Balpreet Singh, said, “A few positive cases were reported from our locality last week, but, no one came to disinfectant the area and residents have been left to fend for themselves. The administration should take note of the problem as a large number of people throng market places nowadays and the civic body should take up regular sanitisation drives to control the alarming situation.”
Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, “Sanitisation drives are still being conducted, especially in containment zones. On-call services are also being provided. Whenever the MC receives a call from the residents or councillors, teams are immediately rushed to sanitise the area.”
