Dharavi, one of the largest slums in Asia, is one of the worst affected areas in the city of Mumbai. As of May 6, 2020, Dharavi has reported 68 new cases and one death. This takes the total up to 733. As a consequence, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to tweak its strategy to handle the situation as the crisis deepens.
The civic officials are now trying to arrange for oxygen cylinders and medicines in order to transform the quarantine centres into mini-clinics. This would be beneficial for the people living in Dharavi to reach out for aid in cases of emergencies. The BMC has stated that it is trying its best to trace out maximum cases in the congested areas of the pockets. It has also urged the slum dwellers to get screened in the quarantined centres or the mini-clinics so that they can identify the symptomatic patients better.
The slum dwellers are often hesitant to visit the clinics. This makes the situation complex as the chances of the virus spreading increases. As a consequence, BMC has roped corporates to convince them. Along with this, announcements on loudspeakers are also made regularly to create awareness about Covid-19 so that the patients showing symptoms can go get themselves checked to avail treatment.
Earlier, the BMC was trying to trace patients by conducting home checkups and having fever clinics. It also appealed to 350 private health workers in the vicinity to start their practice and refer symptomatic patients to them in order to conduct regular tests. Apart from door to door screenings, G (North) Ward will send a vehicle to announce the free check that will be conducted in these localities. The new cases cropped up in Dhobi Ghat, Rahmat Chawl, Mukund Nagar, Indiranagar, Kamla Nehru Nagar, Rajiv Gandhi chowk and a few other localities in Dharavi in the recent past.
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