Stay Home, Stay Safe To Tide Over 2nd Wave

Stay Home, Stay Safe To Tide Over 2nd Wave

Kolar & Shahpura hunker down for life behind barricades, again

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal:10.04.2021

As lockdown was imposed in Kolar and Shahpura localities of the city confining more than 2.5 lakh residents in their homes till April 19, unlike first lockdown which was completely new, residents are mentally prepared for life behind barricades in these 10 days.

“My March closing ended recently, so a break was desperately needed, however this was also sudden, I will now be with family for at least 2-3 days. Probably on Monday I would think how to and what to do from home,” says Kolar resident Vineet Chowdhary who works as a regional head of an insurance company.

Another resident who is a government employee says that it was troublesome in the evening and it took more than 2 hours for him to reach home from office but compared to previous lockdown, he feels, “people at ease with the concept of staying at home”.

“I had a lot of trouble reaching home as it took more than 2 hours. I left office at 6.10 pm and reached home at 8.10 pm, otherwise it is hardly half an hour journey as roads were blocked. We had also completed our March closing and we as government employees have been issued passes, I had to go to office on Saturday too, lets see what is the condition. On Monday, there is no way I will have to go to office. However I feel that now we are more at ease with the concept of staying at home, during initial days of first lockdown it felt as if we would loose our mental calm and stability by remaining confined, but it taught us to be at ease while staying at home,” says an railway official, Arun Hota, a resident of Kolar area.

Traders from the lockdown areas, however feel that this lockdown was also unexpected and sudden.

“We receive supplies from other states, we supply to various education institutions but now everything has stopped. Thankfully we were able to complete the March closing. Visits of marketing officials was also scheduled, but everything has to be planned again. I will think about ways to workout after a couple of days, probably from Monday or Tuesday. Today it should have been more planned, it seemed that the entire planning was done in hurry and haphazardly which led to traffic bottlenecks”, says Rakesh Sharma, a Shahpura resident who supplies, laboratory equipment in educational institutions.

Majority of the residents however think that the announcement was sudden and surprising.

“I was in my home town in Vidisha district, my wife and kids were in Bhopal. When I came to know about the lockdown today morning, I had to rush leaving behind my work there. Anyhow reached home before 6 pm. Now there is nothing to do as of now. Will repair cycles and do cycling if allowed, or will read books, lets wait and watch”, says Pramod Yadav, manager with a private energy company and resident of Kolar.

Heavy traffic on Kolar Road before the nine-day lockdown in the area came into force on Friday

With 1800 active cases, Kolar hit hard by 2nd wave; MP Nagar, Govindpura close behind

Bhopal:

Jehangirabad, Aishbagh, Hanumanganj and Ashoka Garden — they are not the Covid-19 hotspots in the second wave of Coronavirus in the city but now, it’s Kolar, Shahpura, Trilanga, Bawadia Kalan and Gulmohar.

These areas have 1800 active Coronavirus cases and that is why 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh population living in the area are now under lockdown.

All the areas under the lockdown are under the jurisdiction of SDM, Kolar. Next in line could be MP Nagar and Govindpura. Caseload in areas under the jurisdiction of SDM, MP Nagar and Govindpura is quite close to Kolar.

ADM , Bhopal, Sandeep Kerkatti, when asked which are the other Coronavirus hotspots in the city, said after Kolar, it’s MP Nagar and Govindpura.

When asked how close the areas under the jurisdiction of SDM, MP Nagar and Govindpura are to Kolar in terms of number of active patients, he said “Among 4800 active cases in the city, these areas also have almost the same number of Coronavirus active cases as Kolar.”

Kerkatti, when asked whether there could be lockdown in areas under the jurisdiction of SDM, MP Nagar and Govindpura, he said “It depends on the caseload. We hope the situation will improve and lockdown will not be required.” TNN