NEW DELHI: Over 60 residents’ welfare associations in Delhi on Tuesday wrote a joint letter to lieutenant governor Anil Baijal seeking relaxation in containment zone norms.
“When just one or two individuals test positive in a house, creating containment zones seems illogical. In the present circumstances, the neighbours living on the other floors often face inconvenience due to restrictions on their movement for two weeks. Engaging civil defence volunteers for 14 days is a total waste of resources,” claimed Ruby Makhija, secretary of Navjiwan Vihar RWA.
"The RWAs are right. In the past few days, most coronavirus-related restrictions have been relaxed due to the low positivity rate in the city. To continue with containment zones makes no sense. Civil defence volunteers have done a great job. But right now their services can be best utilised elsewhere.-TimesView"
“I have been receiving several such complaints,” said Makhija.
The RWAs said that when the positivity rate in Delhi had come down to less than 1.5% and most of the people, including ailing and bed-ridden residents, had been vaccinated, the containment period should not be longer than the quarantine period.
“Instead of posting the volunteers in containment zones for so long, they can be deployed in markets, haats, malls, etc, to ensure people follow Covid norms strictly,” said Devalina Kohli, vice-president, Hill View Apartments RWA.
The residents said that the third Covid wave had almost ended. “A majority of Delhiites are now vaccinated and home testing kits are freely available. Many people testing positive using these kits may not even report their case. Considering these reasons, we have urged the LG to relax the norms on containment zones,” said Varun Garg, president, Greater Kailash RWA Federation.
