Official helped Tirupati stay indoors even before COVID-19 threat arrived

While life has come to a standstill for many due to the lockdown, it starts early in the morning for PS Girisha, the young IAS officer heading the civic body of the famous pilgrim town of Tirupati.
Municipal Commisioner Girisha visited every places to know the spread of Covid-19 in Tirupati on Monday. (Photo | EPS/Madhav K)
Municipal Commisioner Girisha visited every places to know the spread of Covid-19 in Tirupati on Monday. (Photo | EPS/Madhav K)

TIRUPATI: While life has come to a standstill for many due to the lockdown, it starts early in the morning for PS Girisha, the young IAS officer heading the civic body of the famous pilgrim town of Tirupati. Well before the town showed up on the COVID-19 radar, Girisha was at the forefront of taking various steps to effectively enforce the lockdown. As ‘social distancing’ and ‘stay home stay safe’ became the mantras to fight coronavirus, Girisha focused on ensuring people get essential commodities at home, in order to keep them indoors even before the first COVID-19 case was recorded in the temple town.

He held talks with the managements of local retail stores and supermarkets to have them door-deliver goods to the public without additional charges. The civic body has divided Tirupati into sectors and directed the managements of stores to supply groceries and medicines to the public in their jurisdictions. “There has been a good response. Around 20,000 families have utilised the door-delivery service since March 25. We ensured publicity and shared the contact numbers of the stores. People have been getting supplies at home at no additional cost,” explains Girisha.

Following an appeal by the Commissioner, D-Mart, which has been providing door delivery services in Mumbai and Chandigarh, also provided this option to Tirupati residents through its app. So far, the app has witnessed more than 250 orders from the town. With the first positive case being reported in Tirupati on April 2, Girisha was on his toes, visiting red zones, holding meetings with corporation officials, and taking steps to restrict people’s movement.

Municipal Commisioner PS Girisha
speaks to civic staff during a visit to
one of the local markets in
Tirupati I Madhav K

60,000 face masks given to all civic staff in temple town

Girisha has also been taking steps to ensure he stays safe. “I wear a face mask while visiting infected areas and red zones. After returning from containment zones, I don’t even touch my child when I go home without having a bath. I wish him from a distance,” he says. Another precautionary measure he practises is regularly washing his hands. To help workers battling COVID-19 on the frontline, Girisha provided around 60,000 face masks to the civic staff in Tirupati. Each sanitation staff member is given six or seven face masks, four or five pairs of gloves, and sanitisers.

Homeless people were shifted to choultries run by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, and the corporation provides them food. About 2,000 jobless people from Jeevakona, Auto Nagar and other areas have been identified, and they are being given food every day. Girisha provided the data of jobless people to local volunteers so they can supply the food from the corporation. The 2012-batch officer was appointed as the 12th Commissioner of the Tirupati Municipal Corporation in June last year. Earlier, he served as Joint Collector of Chittoor district and Sub-Collector at Gudur in Nellore district. As of now, Tirupati has six COVID-19 cases, and three of the infectees belong to the same family. 

Steps taken by the Commissioner
Special teams of doctors, revenue and health workers have started collecting details of people with cold, cough and fever in red zones. Personal protective equipment (PPE) was given to doctors working in red zones. The corporation has deployed rapid-response sanitary teams in those areas, and sodium hypo chlorinate and bleaching powder are sprayed every eight hours to prevent the spread of the virus. The police have set up pickets and check-posts in red zones, and are restricting the movement of people.

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