Resident assns help BMC to keep corona at bay
Bhubaneswar: The Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and community leaders, most of them senior citizens, have been playing an important role to alert and inform the city authorities about persons returning home from outside the state.
They are also sensitising people not to look down upon Covid patients and also keep watch on people, who have been advised home quarantine, said a Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) source. The BMC for past two weeks has turned to community leaders to check corona spread in the city, which has so far recorded 89 positive cases.
Saurendra Kumar Mohanty, secretary, Maitree Vihar RWA, said they are not only sensitising people residing in their areas about corona virus but also are helping in distribution of masks and sanitisers among people. “We had been doing our bit as members of the RWA to keep the virus at bay even before the stranded people started trickling into the city. Our task doubled after return of the people. We have been apprising the city authorities of the returnees. Also, we advise people not to attach any stigma to infected people. We monitor the people in home quarantine. Since people are educated, our task becomes easy as they adhere to the norms,” Mohanty told TOI.
Officials of BMC and city police have intensified community interaction programmes as part of the strategy to get travel history and health details of people. The RWAs and other socio-cultural organisations have been roped in to help the city authorities create awareness, said a BMC official.
Ashwini Sundaray, a former corporator of BMC, has ensured that people in Jayadev Vihar and its periphery maintain social distancing and wear masks. “We have been helping the surveillance teams also to reach out to people in the colonies so that the teams can get the updates on their health status. This, I think has helped the city to bring the virus infection under control compared to other areas,” he said.
The capital city doesn’t witness rush of migrants (unskilled and semi-skilled workers), the seasonal workers who are returning to several districts. But, after the flights and train services resumed, it has been recording return of mostly students and professionals. They are staying in home or paid quarantine.
Satyabrata Dash, president of Khandagiri Anchalika Bikash Parishad, said they even go to the shops to tell the owners that they should ensure social distancing. “Even we help draw circles in front of the shops so that people don’t jostle for space and stand one metre apart while shopping,” he said.