Condos join drive to help senior citizens in Kolkata

KOLKATA: A couple of days after chief minister Mamata Banerjee asked the civic bodies and cops to take care of the needs of elderly people staying at high-rises amid the pandemic, housing societies on Saturday showed their active interest in tying up with ward coordinators, civic officials at the borough level and local cops, seeking help for the senior citizens.

Ruchira Residency Apartment Owners’ Association on Saturday contacted local ward coordinator and Garfa police station in the wake of the state government advisory and assured police and the civic authorities that they had the list of elderly citizens staying at the housing complex ready and they would hand it over to them soon. In fact, the association has formed a task force to deal with the pandemic.
“We have handled 12 Covid positive patients of our housing complex so far. I am one of them. I stay with my wife son and 93-year-old mother. I know how crucial it is to maintain a list of elderly citizens who may need help any time during this pandemic,” said Pallab Pal, a former central government employee and a member of the association. With the help of Nibir Dasgupta, the association president, the association has formed a panel of doctors who were willing to visit elderly people of the complex during emergencies. Ruchira Residency has over 550 flats.
Members of other housing complexes have also vowed to extend help to the civic administration and cops to protect senior citizens amid this pandemic. “We appreciate the government move and will certainly share the details with the local police authorities if they approach us. Over the last few months, the association has taken care of the needs of the elderly residents in the complex but if we receive further support from the administration, it will certainly help,” said Ashok Baid of Silver Spring Housing Complex.
Manak Daga, the president of the apartment owners’ association at South City, said they had an internal body — ‘Maitree’ — which looks after the well-being of the residents. However, an active help from the state, civic administration and cops would definitely help its elderly people get rid of many problems, Daga felt.
Nilanjan Das, the secretary of the apartment owners’ association at Upohar, said they too have a complete list. “All we need to do is just update the list. Once it is updated, we will get in touch with Panchasayar police station,” said Das.
Manab Chakraborty a former state government officer and a resident of Rail Vihar, a large housing complex off EM Bypass, said the housing society will extend all sorts of cooperation to the civic administration and cops for protection of its elderly people.
Prodded by police commissioner Anuj Sharma, Kolkata Police has kept its focus on elderly people staying at housing complexes in Covid-sensitive zones. “We have decided to address the issue in two ways. One, ensure that we update our data bank of 16,000 Pronam members. This apart, we will use our contacts in leading housing societies to share data on senior citizens,” said a senior police officer.
KMC officials at the borough have already started collecting data on elderly people from high-rises. “We are keeping focus on housing complexes in Covid-sensitive zones. We need to collect data from several complexes off EM Bypass, Kankurgachhi, Alipore, New Alipore, Anwar Shah Road, Ballygunge and Tollygunge,” a KMC official said.