E-Paper
People in Punjab’s biggest Covid-19 cluster allege food shortage
Residents have also alleged that the district administration is not allowing them to harvest their crops.
Struggling in the fight against Covid-19, Jawaharpur village of Dera Bassi is now battling another front. Some residents allege that they have not received any ration for the last few days and are managing by borrowing from each other.
The village, with a population of 3,000, is the largest Covid-19 cluster in Punjab. It has 38 positive patients out of the total 56 cases of Mohali district and was sealed by the district administration around a week back. On April 9, the district administration had strictly banned the movement of people in the area, which was declared a containment zone by the health authorities and nakas were set up all around the village.
The administration had claimed that they would be providing food and ration at the door steps of the residents.
Jaswinder Singh, a resident of the village, said, “Since the last three days, we don’t have ‘Atta’ (flour) at our house and are borrowing it from our neighbours. Even the vegetable vendors are not allowed in our village.”
Another resident, Talwinder Singh, said, “The flour mill in our village is closed and we don’t have any other option. We are thankful to our neighbours who are helping us. Some of the villagers are also struggling to get medicines.”
Meanwhile, Dera Bassi sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Kuldeep Bawa said, “These are all false allegations as we have a list of the entire village and have provided them everything. They have milch animals but are asking for Verka milk, which is not a genuine demand.”
The villagers have also alleged that the district administration is not allowing them to harvest wheat and fear that the standing crop would be exposed to rain and hailstorms.
Gurpreet Singh, a villager, said, “The administration has not allowed us to use our combine harvesters. They have told us that they would provide us with combines but we don’t know when the machines will come. Our crops are ready and we fear that they would be exposed to the rain.”
Control rooms set up
The district administration has set up control rooms to ensure that food-related issues are redressed at the respective sub-division level itself.
The district-level control room number of the nodal officer is 9888201787 and the district food control room number for essential commodities is 0172-2219541 or 7888556264.
The sub-division level control room number for Kharar is 0160-2280222, and operator Subodh Kumar number is 9478346212. For Mohali, the numbers are 9814049150 and 7696892956 (operator Nitin Sood). In Dera Bassi, one can call on 01762-297129 and 8360170942.
