At Mapsko Casa Bella, residents ensure all follow lockdown rules

As the country remains in lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), authorities and many citizens are doing everything in their power

As the country remains in lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), authorities and many citizens are doing everything in their power to ensure people stay at home. At Mapsko Casa Bella, a condominium in Sector 82, residents are playing an active role in dissuading others from stepping out. All residents in the society have been advised against taking walks in the society’s lawns. While most adhere to the rules, some still venture out for fresh air and to discourage such residents, the society has opted for some negative reinforcements.

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The residents start clapping at those who violate the lockdown to embarrass them for not staying indoors. “The other day, I saw a resident taking a walk in the evening. When other residents noticed it from their balconies, they started clapping and made the walkers aware that they are walking in the park while the rest are staying indoors to keep everyone safe. It naturally embarrassed the walkers who do this often,” said Dr Rajesh Yadav, a resident and member of the condominium’s Covid-19 doctors’ group. The doctors’ group was formed to provide free consultations to residents as well as help formulate a set of precautions to be taken to keep the infection at bay.

Yadav adds that since he has to step out to go to the hospital every day, he has isolated himself from the rest of his family. The moment he enters the house after coming from the hospital, he immediately changes his clothes and takes a shower. He remains in a room for most of the time, he said.

“The only time I meet my family while having food. It is the only time I allow myself to be with them. This is the best way to ensure that no one gets infected and that everyone stays safe. My family is in quarantine because of me; they don’t go out to meet anyone or invite anyone in to the house,” said Yadav who lives in one of the villas at the condominium.

Some of the preventive measures taken by the condominium to prevent the virus from spreading, are maintaining only one exit gate, maintaining records of residents going outside the society and hand-washing and sanitising at the gate.

Only one gate at the condominium has been left open and the residents have also installed facilities to wash hands at the gate apart from providing hand sanitisers. Residents and the condominium staff alike are made to wash their hands before entering the society.

“It is mandatory for anyone passing through the gate to wash their hands. They have to get down from their car, wash their hands, show their identity card and then go inside,” said Inder Bir Singh, maintenance head at the residency. Records of any resident that leaves the society are also maintained.

The society has also cut down on number of staff inside the premises. The residents have also formed a special 15-member group of staffers, called the Casa Bella Emergency Response Team, who are responsible for assisting families in quarantine and helping senior citizens living alone apart from providing other services to the residents.

“The idea behind the quick response team is to make sure that there is always a set of hands ready to tackle any issue that arises in the condominium. This includes attending to maintenance breakdowns, contacting emergency services, providing ration to those who are unable to step out and others,” said Satyavir Singh, president, Casa Bella Condo Association.

The condominium staff has been provided with accommodation inside the society’s premises. They are also being provided food, cooking space and ration.

The residency, which houses close to 850 families, has no grocery store on the premises but has a store attached to the property that has an outside entrance. To maintain social distancing at the store, the management discourages residents to step out to purchase essential items. Instead, the residents can place their orders at the helpdesk in their building or to the building’s supervisor in-charge. The order is then forwarded to the store and the staff delivers the goods to the residents.

The society has allowed delivery of online orders of essential supplies to residents. Every package is dropped at the gate by the delivery agent, sanitised and then delivered to the residents by the condominium staff.

Inder maintained that if the national lockdown were to continue till the end of the month, even then the society is equipped enough to sustain itself. He also often pens down circulars on tips and tricks to ace staying at home and mails them to all residents each morning. Some of the subjects covered by him in these circulars are how to be active at home, do’s and don’ts of social distancing, being energy efficient during lockdown and others.

“I usually write them down in the afternoon after reading government directives online. Then these are mailed early morning to each resident. It is just a small way of keeping things interesting,” said Inder, a former army officer.