Containment zones shuffled, Kolkata now has 28 – Times of India

Kolkata: The containment zones in the city saw a change on Friday, barely a day after Kolkata witnessed the establishment of 25 such zones. There was an addition of three new containment zones, taking the overall number to 28. In reality, the city managed to shed some containment zones and added six. Among the notable containment zones that went off the list are Satyam Towers in Alipore, Motilal Basak Road in Kankurgachhi and GS Road in Kasba. The containment zone count in the state, however, is now 463.
Three of the six new zones are in south Kolkata and the rest fall in eastern suburban Kolkata. In the south, a few blocks of Garcha Road in Gariahat, Bakulbagan Row in Bhowanipore and a portion of Pran Nath Pandit Road in Ballygunge feature on the list. A part of P9 Block of CIT Road, a complex on Maniktala Main Road and a few blocks of Ramkrishna Samadhi Road have also made it to the list.
Police and KMC sources said that more areas are likely to be excluded in the weekend after several patients reportedly recovered from Covid. Similarly, a decision on possible additions is also awaited. These changes, said sources, may be limited to the sub-clusters within a containment zone or might affect the zone as a whole. “We are taking another look at the list. There are some suggestions about certain areas in the eastern suburban and south divisions too,” said a KMC official.
On Friday, there were instances of violation of lockdown protocols at containment zones in multiple pockets that alerted the city police commissioner Anuj Sharma who visited several spots.
Sharma started his visit from Ultadanga, followed by Telengabagan, Beliaghata, Girish Park and the rest of the city. “I asked everyone in the containment zones to follow the lockdown norms,” Sharma told reporters during the visit.
Till Friday evening, most complaints of violation came from the Bijoygarh neighbourhood, where family members of a Covid patient even left their home by removing barricades. “When we informed cops, officers knocked on their door, but they refused to open,” said an elderly resident of the area.
At 9am at Ultadanga’s Karbagan, a number of residents were found trying to enter and leave the locality. The breach was later “rectified” after cops fortified the barricades.
In some containment zones, like Karbagan and Hazar Basti, KMC conducted swab tests. At the mixed zones, testing was carried out even in apartments.
In addition to containment zones, restrictions were also imposed in some other pockets leading to confusion. Garia Balia resident Partha Sarathi Chakraborty said, “The roads leading to our houses were closed even though the area is not on the list. Cops have asked us to not to move out of our houses for seven days.”
“Our area is not on the list, but cops said three residents had recently tested positive, which led them to seal the area as a precautionary measure,” said Upasana Saha, a resident of Selimpur .
Similar instances were reported in Baguiati’s Jagatpur and Dum Dum’s Italgachha Road, where cops only allowed shops selling essentials to stay open, but only till sundown.