Chandigarh Administration may rid 6 Bapu Dham pockets of containment tag

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 24

The UT is mulling to lift sealing in six small pockets within Bapu Dham Colony as no case has been reported from there so far.

The UT has also ruled out making the colony, which has a population of 50,000, a containment zone. The area is divided into four zones and each zone is divided into five pockets. There were a total of 20 pockets of which two are in the containment zone, whereas the rest fall in the buffer zone with strict perimeter control.

Adviser Manoj Parida said, “We have ruled out the suggestion for making the entire Bapu Dham Colony a containment zone as all 50,000 persons living there cannot be caged like animals. We will open clean pockets in Bapu Dham too as we are daily reviewing the situation there. To start with, at least six pockets in the buffer zone will given relaxation as no case has been reported from there since the beginning of the pandemic.”

An onsite sampling centre was set up at Bapu Dham. So far, 841 samples have been collected by the GMSH-16 and GMCH-32 doctors. As many as 181 cases have been reported from the colony.

Bapu Dham is a densely populated colony with EWS flats and residences, which are housing a minimum of 6-8 members per household.

The reasons for the rising cases can be attributed to violation of social distancing norms. Residents had been found sharing hookahs, cigarettes and bidis and gathering for drinking and card-playing sessions during the lockdown.