Situation here is dire: Citizens in Padarayanapura containment zones

Kicker kicker 2 word

Imran Pasha 

Residents of the four separate containment zones at Padarayanapura said they were living in a netherworld.

They are not only physically cut off from the rest of the society but are also left to fend for themselves with little help from the government.

Those in the containment zones at Arafath Nagar, 8th Main Road, 9th Main Road, and 13th Main Road, where local corporator Imran Pasha lives, described their existence as one revolving around hunger and need.

Parts of Padarayanapura have been in lockdown for 56 days so far. “The situation here is dire,” admitted Khizer, a social worker from Swaraj Abhiyan who lives near a containment zone.

“In some of the longest existing containment zones such as those in Arafat Nagar, people have run out of food and are totally dependent on handouts and donations to survive. Despite the BBMP’s promises that essential goods would be allowed into the zones, nothing has come so far,” Khizer added.

Water once in two days

The shortages extend to water. Streets connected to the Cauvery lines get water once in two days, often at 3 am.

“If you miss this supply, you are stuck. On one hand, the government asks us to wash our hands constantly and maintain cleanliness. On the other hand, we are not given the water to do so,” Khizer added.

In other places, residents are dependent on a communal tap. At the 9th Main containment zone, this tap is outside the barricade.

Meanwhile, at 8th Main Road, where a containment zone was erected on Tuesday after a pregnant woman (Patient 5802) tested positive at Vani Vilas Hospital, residents were in a state of anxiety about the future. Our lives are totally at the mercy of the police, explained Junaid, a techie.

“The containment zone is 100 meters long; there are no shops inside the zone. If we need to buy essential supplies, we need to leave the zone. But the police must give us permission. Whether we eat or not in the days to come, will depend on the will of somebody else,” the 27-year-old said.

Besides food, residents of the street are also constantly uneasy if the disease would spread further.

“I have two babies, I worry about them,” Junaid said.

At another containment zone, where a solitary grocery shop was open, the grocer, Faize Ahmed (38), complained that all his produce was rotting because people no longer had the money to buy them.

A nearby street resident, Nagina (25), said: “How will we have money when we are not permitted to go outside the zone to our jobs?”

At the time of this report’s publication, the BBMP did not respond to a request for clarity on the disfunction at Padarayanapura.

Vahida (50) said the containment zones have given residents a feeling that they are victims of a siege. “We are being targeted by the government,” she said.

Doubts about Pasha

As of Tuesday, a total of 71 positive cases have been identified within Padarayanapura, including corporator Imran Pasha.

Now, many residents say that they are not too sure if he had the virus. “He himself announced that he was Covid positive on May 30 and then was discharged on June 6, seven days later. How can he be released so quickly?” a resident asked.

Curiously, Pasha, who has since been arrested by the police for violating social-distancing norms upon his discharge from Victoria Hospital, has, so far, not appeared in the official list of patients discharged from hospital.

Dr Arundathi Chandrashekar, head of surveillance, Department of Health and Family Welfare, confirmed that Pasha had tested positive, but said that she did not know why Pasha had been omitted from the discharge list. “It appears to have been an omission,” she said.