Voluntary COVID-19 lockdown imposed at Secunderabad Cantonment

Residents allege that the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) is not doing enough to protect its residents from the pandemic, a charge that the Board denies.
A worker of Secunderabad Cantonment Board spraying disinfectant on a tree at Mahindra Hills in Hyderabad. (File photo| S Senbagapandiyan, EPS)
A worker of Secunderabad Cantonment Board spraying disinfectant on a tree at Mahindra Hills in Hyderabad. (File photo| S Senbagapandiyan, EPS)

HYDERABAD: Gripped by fear over the increasing COVID-19 cases in the Secunderabad Cantonment area, its residents, on Sunday, began sealing areas and streets near cantonment zones, in an attempt to impose  a  voluntary lockdown.

Residents allege that the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) is not doing enough to protect its residents from the pandemic, a charge that the Board denies. Speaking to Express, residents claimed they were forced to barricade their localities as the officials were not doing it.

"In just the past one week, we have had four new COVID-19 cases in four different locations. Until last week, officials were at least disinfecting the houses of COVID-19 patients and barricading the area. Unfortunately, now they are not even doing that much. On Saturday, when another person tested positive in our area, officials only sanitised the patient’s house and did not even barricade the area," said president of Secunderabad Cantonment Welfare Association, T Satish Kumar.

Currently, in Secunderabad Cantonment, around 50 Covid-19 cases have been reported. "As cases are increasing, officials are becoming more ignorant. Most residents in the area were in a state of panic. Hence, we decided to seal our colony for our safety, and imposed a lockdown on ourselves," said another resident from Old Vasavi Nagar in ward 5.

Kumar said the association members themselves had now initiated the barricading and sanitising process in the area. He said on Saturday, three areas in ward 5 were sealed. "If the number of cases further increases, and the SCB does not take up their responsibility, then we will seal more areas," he added.

SCB vice-president J Rama Krishnan has denied these claims. He said, "We are doing our work properly. However, some elements want to politicise these issues, which is why they are raising them."

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