For this Mumbai cop, his family is his source of strength in covid-19 fight
Avhad comes across as a confident officer, full of enthusiasm and dedicationHis daughter keeps motivating him to go the extra mile, if required
MUMBAI: It’s 2:30 PM Monday and the afternoon heat sweltering the deserted concrete roads of Mumbai paints an entirely different picture of the commercial capital of India. A week into the lockdown to stem the effect of covid-19, the otherwise-lively roads leading to the western express highway near the domestic airport in Santa Cruz Mumbai now evoke a sense of fear, which often feels more vivid with whiffs of sanitizer in the air as one passes by the random police checkpoints set up on the road to prevent crowding. Most of the cops, wearing masks, are patrolling this area on four-wheelers and bikes, urging the public on mics to stay indoors.
Kailash Avhad, 53, senior police inspector of Vakola police station, alights from a police van near the Vakola main signal and says in a hoarse voice that he just returned from a round of patrolling and doing the required public announcements related to the lockdown rules.
Avhad started his duty at 6 AM in the morning, managing the police force deployed in the area, monitoring the public and shops in Vakola and doing announcements himself at some of the localities to prevent grouping on the roads and outside shops.
“Corona ko rokne ke liye yeh karna hi padega (This has to be done to stop corona)," said Avhad, who, along with scores of other policemen in the city have been exposing themselves to the danger of contracting covid-19 virus by directly dealing with the public and potentially infected people on the road.
“The department has provided masks and sanitizers to us. These are normal masks, not N-95 masks. I can’t say if any police officer has been affected by the virus. That is BMC’s lookout," said Avhad.
Avhad, originally from Maharashtra’s Nashik district, comes across as a confident officer, full of enthusiasm and dedication. Dressed in a neatly pressed uniform, Avhad said that on normal days he commutes everyday from Thane (a district outside Mumbai), where he lives with his wife, daughter and mother. But the pandemic has changed things.
“Abhi toh chaar-paanch din mein ek baar ghar jaata hoon kapde vagaira lene ke liye. Tab ek baar gharwalon se bhi mil leta hoon. Hum sabhi aise hi chala rahe hain (Now, I get to go home once in 4-5 days to bring my clothes and other basic essentials. Then I get a chance to meet my family members also. We all in the force are doing the same)," said Avhad, adding that the police department has a made adequate stay and food arrangements near the station for every officer who is unable to get enough time to go home in the wake of the covid-19 breakout.
Avhad estimated that Vakola has a population of around 7 lakhs and to manage the lockdown his force has set up 10-15 checkpoints in the area with at least 55 cops deployed for the operation.
“Our duty has increased. At times, some of us work for 15-16 hours a day. That’s okay, we will manage and follow the orders coming from the top. But to be honest, the public in this area are not so unruly at least as far as the virus-related rules are concerned. They listen to us and mostly follow what the Maharashtra government has advised. But, in some cases we have seen that even for buying vegetables or grocery 3-4 people are going to sabzi mandis together. Then we need to intervene. We have done marking outside many shops in the area to ensure that no grouping happens and everyone maintains a 3-feet distance from each other. In the police we are prepared to tackle any situation," said Avhad, whose daughter keeps motivating him to go the extra mile, if required, to manage the situation and put up a tough fight against covid-19.
For the police, the number of other crimes has gone down drastically over the past five days, according to Avhad. Over the past eight days since the lockdown, reports of petty crimes, domestic violence, molestation and so on have come down by around 80%, said Avhad, while rushing into his cabin for a glass of water.
“Subah se chilla-chilla kar PA system par announce karte karte mera gala baith gaya hai, thoda paani pee leta hoon. Logon ko samajhna chaiye ki yeh koi holiday season nahi hai. Hum bhi sab chhorke samjha rahe hain public ko. Gharwale miss karte hain mujhe, phone karke bolte hain apna khayal rakhne.…par Corona ko harana hai (Because of my continuous shouting and public announcements my throat has gone sore, I will have some water now. People must understand that this is not a holiday season. We are forgetting everything to make the public aware. My family misses me, urges me to take care of myself…..but we have to defeat Corona)," said Avhad.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!