JOIN USAfter being declared a containment zone, Padarayanapura residents are struggling to make ends meet. Essential goods and services are in short supply.
Akhil Kadidal meets some residents to understand their grievances.
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VOICEOVER
Padarayanapura in West Bengaluru has come increasingly under the spotlight after being identified as a Covid-19 hub, since the first two cases were reported there on April 7th.
VOICE OVER
The situation has rapidly escalated into violence coming close on the heels of the CAA-NRC protest and then, with the return of Tablighi Jamat members to the area. So far, a total of 71 cases have been reported in the last 64 days. An initial spate of random testing there at the start of May found seven cases, although a larger programme which started on May 14 has officially yielded one result.
PTC 1
The ward has been under intense scrutiny because of the number of cases but the people's complaints here are clear.
BITE
Some people work as daily wagers in the market. 99% of the people living here work as labour and work for daily wages.
If Mysuru road is closed at 5pm, those who have gone out can't come back in. How are they supposed to work? Are there factories here? There is nothing here.
BITE
Men can't go out to work, they don't get work because they are from Padarayanapura. How do we feed our families? We're poor people. If we were rich, we would have stayed home. Where must poor people go?
BITE
There is no business. People take what they want, they don't have money. It has been closed since it was called a Red zone.
BITE
There are no essentials. Our MLA helped us in his personal capacity, so has our coporator. Some relief was distribute near Arafath Nagar and the rest of Padarayanapura. We didn't receive anything here. They supplied milk for a few days but that has also been stopped now, we have nothing to eat.
Apparently they're going to start billing for electricity and water, who knows what it will be for 3 months?
BITE
How long will charity continue?
VOICE OVER
Ever since the establishment of containment zones 52 days ago, residents say they have become the victims of communal persecution. Apart from the lack of essential goods, water is also in short supply, and perhaps most egregious to some is that some of the sewer lines are backing up. However, BWSSB crews are not able to come in because of the barricades.
BITE
There is no place to move around. Vehicles can't come in, we've complained to the BBMP. The (sewage) chambers are full and children are falling ill, we haven't been getting medicine. We're under tremendous stress here.
PTC
Accessing medical care turns out to be challenging here, because as soon as they try to go to a neighbouring hospital in a neighbouring ward, the moment the medical staff looks at the Aadhaar card, and it says Padarayanapura, they're refused treatment. This is becoming a huge bone of contention for the people here.
BITE
Throughout India, is this the only place that has been affected by Covid-19? Is our area the only place where people tested positive? Since the time this area reported cases, we've been facing abuses. Aren't we humans? People outside keep us away if they know we're from Padarayanapura.
PTC
The government's position as far as Padarayanapura is clear. It is a containment zone because of the number of cases in this part of the city is high but the position of the people is a little different, they feel they are being unfairly targetted.
In this kind of scenario there is no easy way out for both parties. As long as the number of Covid-19 cases here continues to pop up, the containment zones will continue and the government is intractable in its position.