Complete lockdown in Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, Nahan

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, July 24

With no let-up in Covid-positive cases in the industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN), Solan District Magistrate KC Chaman today announced a complete lockdown from Saturday midnight till Tuesday morning (6 am).

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The District Magistrate said the movement of residents would be completely restricted. The SDM, Nalagarh, has been directed to make necessary arrangements to enforce the directions and maintain law and order.

At least 384 cases have been reported from the BBN belt till now.

The maximum of 108 cases, including the contacts of workers, have been reported from Wrigley India Pvt Limited, followed by 59 from Sara Textiles, 32 from Arihant Pharmaceutical and 23 from other industrial units.

As many as 23 members of a family from Haripur Sandholi village in the Baddi area were found infected yesterday, triggering panic in the administration.

The BBN belt accounts for the lion’s share of infections in Solan district. As against 120 cases reported on July 7, the tally of the infected persons in the district has touched 472 with 311 active cases.

Only 133 industries have set up 10 per cent temporary isolation facilities on their premises till now. The administration is facing a shortage of space to house patients and their primary contacts. There is no end to violations as industrial workers continue to enter the area without Covid-negative test reports.

Meanwhile, Nahan and Dadahu towns will also observe a complete lockdown starting 9 pm today till 9 am Monday.

District Magistrate, Sirmaur, RK Pruthi said Govindgarh Mohalla, Nahan and Dadahu continued to remain the worst affected. All shops, except those selling essential items, would remain closed on Saturday and Sunday. The movement of people would be restricted. The tally of infected persons in the district had touched 201 .

As many as 29 cases were reported from Sirmaur district today. Seven more cases were reported from Govindgarh Mohalla this evening. Although the town remained sealed for three days from July 18, new Covid cases continued to surface.

The Deputy Commissioner said they would undertake extensive sampling in the affected areas during the lockdown. In Dadahu town, the contact-tracing of two positive cases detected yesterday was also underway.

He said 1,169 persons, including 205 children, from the mohalla had been sampled till today.