E-Paper
Highrise towers to be sealed for 14 days instead of 21 days: UP government
Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad
The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday issued an order saying that highrises in the state that witness Covid-19 cases, will from now be sealed for only 14 days, as opposed to 21 days, as part of the containment exercise.
The directions were issued after several residents asked district officials to define how they decided the numbers of days for which a tower/highrise needed to be sealed.
“The issue of buildings/towers being sealed for 21 days had been raised by a number of residents. We had a look at it and decided to tweak the rules. From now on, the sealing activity will only be for 14 days. Also earlier, if there was one case, a containment zone of 250 metres was created. If there was more than one case, a containment area of 500 metres and additional 250 metres buffer area was created. Those rules will now change,” said Amit Mohan Prasad, UP’s principal secretary (health).
“We have now decided that even if there is more than one case in one house in urban areas, the containment zone will be only 250 metres or will cover just that one mohalla, whichever is less. A government order has been issued about the new guidelines,” he added.
The move is likely to bring relief to residents in two major NCR cities of Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad, which house hundreds of highrises and have witnessed a high incidence of Covid-19 cases.
In its directions on May 31, the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary RK Tiwari had issued guidelines, which also dealt with the sealing of highrises and stated that the norms were based on directions issued by the Union ministry of health and family welfare.
Sunday’s directions are modification of the May 31 directions.
The May 31 guidelines stated that 250 metres or an entire Mohalla, whichever is less, will be marked as containment zone in case there is single Covid-19 case. In case of more than one case, a 500 metre area and additional 250 metre buffer zone will be marked as a containment zone.
Regarding the residential highrises, the May 31 directions stated that in case of one or more cases on the same floor, only the particular tower will be sealed. In case there were more than one case in different towers, the respective towers as well as common areas — like gyms, swimming pools, parks — will be included in the containment zone.
“During the initial stages when the first Covid-19 cases surfaced in one of the towers in Kaushambi, it was sealed for 21 days. Later, upon subsequent cases, officials sealed the towers for 14 days. Now, with new directions, the residents have clarity about the number of days,” said VK Mittal, president of Kaushambi Apartments’ RWA.
Other residents said that there is no clarity about the number of days for which a highrise needed to be sealed, which keep changing..
“The latest directions were probably issued as there were cases listed in the court. Any such revision of guidelines should be in conformity of Central guidelines. We have also asked the district magistrate and requested him to comply with Central guidelines as per Supreme Court’s direction,” said Mohammad Fuzail Khan, resident of Vaishali.
Khan had recently moved apex court to de-seal Gateway Tower highrise and also contended for scrapping of ‘sector scheme’, which is imposed by the administration in the areas of Vaishali, Khoda and Loni.
In connection with his petition, the court on June 12 had directed Ghaziabad district magistrate to ensure that all Central guidelines are followed.
District magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey did not respond to repeated calls for a comment.
In his petition, Khan had raised the issue of complete sealing of Gateway Tower, when only one tower was to be sealed as there was only a single Covid-positive case in the highrise.
In a similar case earlier, the health department officials had completely sealed Jaipuria Sunrise Greens highrise in Indirapuram, while there was only one case. Later, the chief medical officer directed that only one tower is to be sealed.
