Societies take the lead with strict Covid protocol and restricted movement

PUNE The rise in home quarantine patients in Pune has forced several societies to sanitise their premises on their own or with the help of a local corporator, some have also begun strict enforcement of Covid norms and are not letting outsiders within their premises

PUNE The rise in home quarantine patients in Pune has forced several societies to sanitise their premises on their own or with the help of a local corporator, some have also begun strict enforcement of Covid norms and are not letting outsiders within their premises.

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“We’ve had 15 cases in this wave, and have eight active cases as of now, sanitization was never done by the PMC. The PMC has declared our society as a micro-containment zone. We are not allowing anyone from outside to enter the premises until they have done the test, though there is a lot of confusion about the rules, we have made it mandatory,” said Manish Mishra, Felicita society on Baner-Pashan Link road.

In Paritosh society, residents have been doing the sanitization process on their own following the standard Covid protocol.

“We decided to sanitize on our own instead of waiting for someone from PMC to come. When a Covid positive patient is detected, the affected floors are fully sanitized - including the doors, door handles, bell switches of all flats on that floor, railings, lift buttons, dust bins, passages. The insides of all lifts are sanitized every hour, as well as the staircases. Every visitor to the society is screened at the security gate. From April 11, we are not allowing any outside visitor unless it is an emergency,” said Ashish Kotamkar, chairman, Paritosh society.

While townships like Megapolis in Maan, Hinjewadi have gone hi-tech whereupon instead of pasting yellow slip of paper they maintain a tracker in the maintenance office.

“Additionally, we provide a separate WhatsApp group for such flats, where society manager, security supervisor, the secretary is added with a member of the flat; so that we can provide them any assistance that is needed. Each flat has an individual WhatsApp group so that we don’t reveal any identity,” said Anshul Gupta, resident of Megapolis.

Sopanbaug societies have sprung into action by sealing off their premises for everyone, including caretakers and domestic workers.

“In certain societies, only particular buildings are made as containment zones and in those buildings, movement is totally restricted. No flat owner can go out and no maids or servants are allowed in that building, until notified by the PMC,” said Sachin Khandelwal, Sopanbaug residents’ association.