Last year’s experience will guide us better this time in Dharavi: Mumbai civic body official

After a gap of six months, Dharavi—Asia’s largest slum, is again witnessing a surge in cases, due to the second pandemic wave

After a gap of six months, Dharavi—Asia’s largest slum, is again witnessing a surge in cases, due to the second pandemic wave. To curb the spread, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to conduct rigorous testing, contact tracing and isolation. The rise in cases has raised quite a concern among the slum dwellers, most of those are migrants from neighbouring states who returned to the city with the relaxation of the lockdown. The volunteers who have been working since March 2020, are ‘overwhelmed and exhausted.

A BMC healthcare worker collects swab samples of Dharavi residents. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

Dharavi spreads over a 2.5 sq km area which has a population density of 227,136 per sq km. The overly populated slum consists of small rooms measuring 100 sq ft that houses seven-eight people. With its history as a breeding ground for dis­eases, on April 1, 2020, when the area recorded its first Covid-19 positive case, it threatened to become a super-spreader for Mumbai’s two crore population.

However, after months of fighting, Dharavi won the war against the virus. Till March 19, it had registered 4,357 cases, far fewer than its neighbouring areas, Dadar (5,383) and Mahim (5,294). Its average daily cases came down from 43 in May 2020 to six in January 2021. Dharavi had not reported new cases only four times in January, this year – January 22, 26, 27 and 31 – and on February 2. It was also believed that herd immunity contributed to decreasing of the cases.

But with the start of the second wave, Dharavi has again come into the spotlight. On Thursday, Dharavi reported 30 new Covid-19 cases, the highest daily rise since last September. On Friday, it recorded 29 new cases.

In a meeting held at the headquarters of BMC on Friday, several guidelines and instructions have been issued. Most importantly, the focus has been paid to rigorous testing. Officials claim their experience of last year will help them to fight better this year.

At present, daily, BMC is conducting around 500 tests in Dharavi, which will now be increased to 1,000 to identify the carriers at the earliest. “For one infected person, we have been instructed to test 22 of his/her close contacts. Along with this, we will conduct rampant testing in crowded places and the factories,” said Kiran Dighavkar, ward officer of G-North that covers Dharavi.

Almost 70% of the patients are asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic, as per BMC.

BMC is also in the process to start a vaccination centre in Dharavi to inoculate the elderly above 60 years and the public with comorbidities above 45 years. “We are trying to bring the facility close to the public’s door for faster vaccination,” he added. Private doctors will be responsible for the vaccination.

At present, Dharavi has 300 institutional quarantine centres where hotels, lodges, schools, stadiums among others are converted into isolation centres. BMC has plans to add 100 more centres in the initial phase. “Earlier, we were sending a few patients to BKC jumbo but now, we have decided to increase the institutional quarantine centres as a precautionary measure if the cases increase further,” said Dighavkar.

In October 2020, BMC along with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) released a data of serosurvey conducted in R-North, M-West and F-North wards of Mumbai. The report revealed seroprevalence in 45% of the slum of the wards. But Dharavi wasn’t added to it.

When asked about it, “There was a belief that Dharavi had attained herd immunity considering the infection rate slowed down. But now, it has been proved wrong, otherwise, cases wouldn’t have increased. There is a need to do a serosurvey in Dharavi as well to gauge the spread of the virus,” said a senior officer.

Last year when the national lockdown was declared hundreds of migrants who reside in Dharavi lost their livelihood and went to their natives. With the relaxation of the lockdown in September, they came back to Mumbai with a new hope. But with the rise in cases, the slum dwellers are getting concerned about losing their jobs again. To them, it seems like a ‘Deja Vu.

Priya Sudha, 31 lives in a small 10*10 sq feet chawl in Dharavi with her three children, in-laws and husband. She works as a domestic maid in Shivajinagar. Last year, when the lockdown was declared, she lost her job along with her husband who worked at a tea stall. With no option in hand, she had to go back with her children to her native in Tamil Nadu in June.

“It was impossible for us to feed so many people without a job. So, I went to my native with my children while my husband remained in Dharavi with his parents. I came back in December and started working again,” said Subha.

As cases are increasing in Dharavi, she fears that her employer may fire her. “My employer who is diabetic knows that I stay in Dharavi, so they are quite concerned. Already many employers who have additional rooms are keeping their maids in-house to avoid any possible chance of infection from outside travel,” she said.

Volunteers who are responsible for close contact tracing of infected patients are overwhelmed. They have been working since March 2020, when the first Covid-19 case was reported in Mumbai.

“After a lot of hard work, we were able to control the spread in the city. We thought it was over and I would be able to hug my children without worrying. But now again, I am sleeping in a separate room as I don’t want them to contract the infection from me,” said Sunita Gaikwad, who has been working as a volunteer in association with BMC. “It all seems like the last year when the pandemic started,” she added.