New Delhi: The city police have identified 10 areas in the national capital from where they received maximum number of calls complaining about unavailability of cooked food, ration and other essential items. Based on the number of calls received at their dedicated 24x7 Covid-19 helpline, 011-23469526, the police have categorised these 10 areas into “distress zones” and placed them on top priority so that quick action can be taken in case of a distress call.
The police helpline has received 527 calls in total regarding “no food and no ration” between March 24 and April 7 in the ongoing lockdown period.
The objective behind identifying the areas is to give maximum focus on people living in such areas and increase the number of volunteers involved in distribution of cooked food, ration and other essential items, said deputy commissioner of police (licensing) Asif Mohammad Ali, who is supervising the helpline.
“The calls received from such areas are transferred to the police stations concerned and also to the organisations and individuals who are volunteering in distribution of food packets, ration and other essential items. Hundreds of people are supplying rice, flour, cooking oil, and other food items to our police stations to distribute among the needy. The idea is to ensure nobody sleeps hungry,” said Ali.
An analysis of the 527 such calls received at the helpline shows that of the ten “distress zones”, four are in outer Delhi areas while two each in north and south Delhi. The other two places are in central and north-east Delhi. All these areas are inhabited by migrant workers and poor families, whose source of livelihood has been lost because of the 21-day lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the police said.
{{/usCountry}}An analysis of the 527 such calls received at the helpline shows that of the ten “distress zones”, four are in outer Delhi areas while two each in north and south Delhi. The other two places are in central and north-east Delhi. All these areas are inhabited by migrant workers and poor families, whose source of livelihood has been lost because of the 21-day lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the police said.
{{/usCountry}}According to the list of “distress zones”, accessed by HT, outer Delhi’s Prem Nagar in Kirari tops the list as 20 calls related to hunger and non-availability of ration have been received so far. It was followed by JJ Colony in Bawana from where 12 persons called the city police’s helpline, informing that they do not have food, money or ration.
A total of 10 such calls have been received from Shastri Nagar while the police helpline got nine calls from Sant Nagar in Burari, eight calls from north-east Delhi’s Karawal Nagar, and seven calls from Swatantra Nagar in Narela, outer Delhi. The helpline received five calls each from south Delhi’s Meethapur and Madanpur Khadar. Four calls were received from outer Delhi’s Begampur while three calls for cooked food and ration have come from Rabhubarpura in central Delhi.
The Delhi government said it will coordinate with the police to address the issues in the areas mentioned. “We already have 1,800 hunger relief centres. Many locations mentioned in the list do have such centres. We will alert our area officials to inspect and start more centres if needed. We will also create more awareness about our existing centres in these locations,” an official in the chief minister’s office said.
According to DCP Ali, a majority of hunger and no-ration calls are made to the helpline between 8 am and 8 pm.
Top 10 areas from where police have received maximum calls of “no food, no ration” :