As Mumbai's Dharavi turns into a coronavirus hotspot, with an increasing number of COVID-19 positive cases, the health care workers on Saturday conducted a door-to-door screening of all the residents in the area. Till now Dharavi, the largest slum in the country, has registered a total of 22 positive cases and three deaths. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has traced about 35 high-risk contacts who have been quarantined.
A team comprising private doctors of Dharavi and BMC medical staff checked the temperature and questioned the people about their travel history.
In this screening, if people are found to have symptoms, the team will immediately inform the BMC and they will be tested for coronavirus. Those found people in this test will be kept in isolation or quarantine and the will be treated. 150 doctors of Dharavi have joined Mumbai BMC through Indian Medical Council and Maharashtra Medical Council.
The narrow lanes of Dharavi are also being monitored with drones. On April 7, Mumbai South Central Lok Sabha MP Rahul Shewale had urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to completely lock down Dharavi in order to prevent it from becoming a COVID-19 hotspot.
According to the Shiv Sena MP, the Mumbai police is making a good effort but no one is listening due to the less strength of the police. He also demanded additional police force of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) so that they can extend their help to the police.
He had added if the cases in Dharavi increase, then Mumbai will face its biggest threat. "If the virus is not contained in Dharavi, then Mumbai will be in serious trouble. The spread of coronavirus can be very fast in Dharavi due to the congestion," the Shiv Sena MP had said.
Shewale asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to take over all the hospitals in Dharavi, adding that Dharavi's sports complex should be used as a quarantine facility. He opined that a central kitchen should be built in the Manohar Joshi College in Dharavi and the state government should make independent rationing arrangements.
Shewale also urged the state government to sanitise the entire area of Dharavi, adding every person residing in Dharavi should be checked. Shewale demanded from Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to make independent arrangements for Dharavi.
The area, a massive maze of shanty colonies, small scale units and squalor, is part of Shewale's constituency and has reported seven coronavirus positive cases and one death so far.
