Day 1 of a ‘hard lockdown’ imposed in 13 Covid-19 hot spots of Ghaziabad laid bare the shortcomings in the supply chain of essentials, with hundreds of residents complaining that they did not have access to daily food items and no prior arrangement was in place. The Uttar Pradesh government, in an announcement made on Wednesday, had directed the complete sealing of 13 hot spots in Ghaziabad to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the district, which has so far witnessed 25 positive cases.
“The shops inside and outside our society were shut on Tuesday night. Residents faced massive problems in getting milk and vegetables. The milk van finally arrived at around 4pm on Thursday. Even drinking water was scarce, especially for residents who buy bottled water from outside. No vendors were allowed in today. There is no clarity as to how the residents will get access to food,” said Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Oxy Homes Highrise near Tila Mor.
The highrise, which is located behind Hindon airbase near Loni, has around 1,300 families and a population of around 6,000 living in it. The entire apartment complex was sealed after Wednesday’s orders as one of the residents was declared positive for Covid-19 by the district health department on April 8.
“Both husband and wife work in a hospital and the man tested positive for the virus on Wednesday, while his wife and kids tested negative. While the man has been hospitalised, his family has been put in home quarantine. For essential food supplies, we tried to call up one officer deputed for our highrise. But he did not take calls. So we called up another officer at 9.30am and he told us to wait until they arranged supplies. Residents were not able to get vegetables till Thursday evening,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“Both husband and wife work in a hospital and the man tested positive for the virus on Wednesday, while his wife and kids tested negative. While the man has been hospitalised, his family has been put in home quarantine. For essential food supplies, we tried to call up one officer deputed for our highrise. But he did not take calls. So we called up another officer at 9.30am and he told us to wait until they arranged supplies. Residents were not able to get vegetables till Thursday evening,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}The 13 hot spots sealed by the administration are Nandgram near mosque; KDP Grand Savana, Raj Nagar Extension; Savoir Park society, Mohan Nagar; B-77/G-5, Shalimar Garden Extension 2; Pasonda; Oxy Homez highrise, Bhopura; Vasundhara sector-2B; Sector-6, Vaishali; Girnar society, Kaushambi; Naipura, Loni; Masuri; Khatu Shyam Colony, Duhai and Covid-1 level hospital, Muradnagar.
“Our highrise has been under lockdown since March 28 after a couple tested positive for the virus and 93 of their contacts from the society were identified. After the sealing of hot spots was announced on Wednesday, the entry/exit was further restricted and residents who returned late night from work were asked to stay outside. They were allowed in late at night after proper checks. Guards of our highrise were also not allowed to move out, but after intervention of senior officials they were allowed to leave,” said Sandeep Sharma, resident of Savior Park highrise at Mohan Nagar.
According to health officials, the woman who tested positive in Savior Park is an employee of Noida-based company, Ceasefire. The highrise has around 800 flats, which is occupied by at least 2500 people.
“At 8.30am on Thursday, the only shop in the highrise closed. Even the garbage and milk vans were not allowed to enter. The milk van guy went to the backside and handed over some packets to the residents. During the initial sealing on March 28, we had liberty to move out to fetch daily items. Now, that too has been completely banned,” he added.
On late Wednesday night the district administration rolled out a list of all hotpspot with mobile numbers of different officers who were attached to look after the door step delivery of essentials for residents living there.
One of the biggest hot spots is Masuri near NH-9, which is officially estimated to house a population of about 50,000 people living in 5,000 houses.
“Our locality in Masuri was sealed last week after 10 people — who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz at Delhi’s Nizamuddin — were found to be living here. My son had also gone with the group and is presently lodged in a government quarantine centre. We are under home quarantine ever since and have not moved out. We have no milk, vegetables and are just surviving on ration left at home,” a resident of Nalipada locality in Masuri, said.
Another hotspot that was identified is a highrise in Kaushambi where a doctor — who returned from France — tested positive for Covid-19. He later recovered and was discharged from a hospital in Delhi.
“The residents in Kaushambi area better placed and are getting online delivery of food items. However, the administration should concentrate more in areas like Masuri, where people are poor and are not used to ordering groceries online,” said VK Mittal, president of Kaushambi Apartments’ RWA (KARWA).
District magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey did not respond to repeated calls and messages over the issue. Shalindera Singh, additional district magistrate (city), also did not take calls.
City magistrate Shiv Prakash Shukl however responded and said that there may be some difficulties on Day 1but efforts were on to streamline the services.
“The doorstep delivery will be in case we get calls from residents. Even RWAs have been asked to prepare list of bulk orders, which will be supplied. In the meantime we are also planning to set up stalls of vegetables and milk in hot spots from where residents can purchase whatever they need. In other areas, where people are not aware about online delivery, we have pasted lists of our contacts and they can call us,” he added.
The district administration on Thursday evening rolled out another list in which service providers of milk, medicines and fruits/vegetables were assigned to each 13 hot spots.