In absence of clear guidelines, confusion prevails about de-sealing of societies

The hotspots are divided into three zones--green zones, where no positive case have been reported in the last 28 days, orange zone, where no positive case has been reported in the last 14 days, and red zone, where a positive case has been reported in the last 14 days.

The residents of many high-rises in Gautam Budh Nagar district, which were sealed after the detection of several Covid-19 positive cases, are keeping their fingers crossed as the district administration has yet not announced the exact dates to de-seal their societies.

Gautam Budh Nagar currently has 40 hot spots, where 10 are in the green zone, 13 in the orange zone and 17 are in the red zone.(Sunil Ghosh/ HT file photo)

Abhinav Ashwin, a resident of Logix Blossom County in sector 137 said that one month after three cases were reported from his society, he found on Saturday that the society is now part of the orange zone, instead of the green zone.

“What are the parameters for converting red zones into orange zones and orange zones into green zones? Has the administration given the exact date of de-sealing any society before it is sealed? The administration does not care about the basic needs of the residents of the 900-odd flats in our society,” he said.

Questioning the methodology of containment, he asked that if Wazidpur village in Sector 135, which is around three kilometres away and Paras Tierea, another high-rise in Sector 137, could be part of the same containment zone, how could other neighbouring societies in Sector 137 get relaxation in containment norms? “It clearly indicates that the administration is biased and it decides the containment zone randomly. Even the policemen deployed at our gates do not know about the relaxation norms for different categories,” Ashwin alleged.

Echoing similar views, Ravish Gupta, the president of the apartment owners’ association in Paras Tierea, said that the district administration has not defined parameters for the sealing and de-sealing of societies. “Five cases had been reported from our society nearly one month ago. The administration has said that there will be a three-kilometre quarantine zone for a cluster with more than one Covid-19 case. If that is true then how can containment norms be relaxed for our neighbouring high-rise? How can two high-rises sharing a boundary wall be placed in different categories of containment?” he asked.

The last positive case from Paras Tierea society was reported on March 29. On Sunday, its completed 28 days of quarantine. Similarly, the last positive case among the three cases from Logix Blossom County was reported on March 26 and the mandatory 28 days of quarantine were completed on April 23.

The hotspots are divided into three zones--green zones, where no positive case have been reported in the last 28 days, orange zone, where no positive case has been reported in the last 14 days, and red zone, where a positive case has been reported in the last 14 days.

Gautam Budh Nagar currently has 40 hot spots, where 10 are in the green zone, 13 in the orange zone and 17 are in the red zone.

It may be noted that last Sunday, the district magistrate Suhas LY had categorically said that a two-kilometre buffer zone has been created outside quarantine zones and no activity other than the supply of essential commodities and visits from medical and sanitation teams will be permitted in these quarantine and buffer zones. But, he had also said that if no infection is reported during the next 28 days, the hot spot will be converted into a green zone.

Despite repeated attempts via the phone and text messages, district magistrate Suhas LY did not respond for comment on the issue.