JOIN USCoronavirus battle goes hyper-local, ward panels hold first meet
The ward and booth committees set up by the BBMP to decentralise Covid-19 management in the city held their maiden meeting in most of the wards on Monday, and chalked out plans to fight Covid-19.
In Jakkur, 28 coordination teams with 140-150 volunteers have been set up to take up door-to-door survey across the ward.
"The volunteers have already surveyed 1,800 households. The health and other related data of every person are noted and monitored as part of Covid-19 surveillance," said Jakkur corporator and leader of the ruling party in the BBMP council, K A Munindra Kumar.
The teams are supplying food kits to the needy and helping patients with medicines and hospital arrangements. Booth-level committees with 10 volunteers each have also been formed.
Data collection
Netra Narayan, the corporator from Kaval Byrasandra and the leader of the JD(S) party in the council, said the meeting in her ward focused on collecting data on doctors and the availability of rapid testing kits.
The ward committee members also discussed a strict monitoring of patients in home isolation by deploying doctors and nurses on alternative days.
"We are also waiting for two ambulances that the government has announced to allot to each ward. Eight Tempo Travellers at the ward to shift patients do not serve any purpose,” Netra said.
Tara Krishnaswamy, the Co-founder of Citizens for Bengaluru, who coordinated with the several committees, said the meetings were indeed a great start.
Information given out locally is more helpful for citizens than one common website or 10 different numbers from various departments, she said.
Fixing the gaps
"Planning, implementation and strategising so far have been a cause of concern due to a lack of coordination.
The move will help fix the gap between the ground reality and the higher authorities in a systematic manner," she added.
Corporators said Rs 20 lakh announced for each ward will be used to purchase masks, face shields and PPE kits for sanitation workers along with other essentials needed during emergencies.