Prompt action on the part of the Telangana government in anticipating the spread of COVID-19 pandemic helped contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Strict implementation of lockdown norms without any relaxation has resulted in fewer number of positive cases in the past four days, asserts Arvind Kumar, Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development and also Commissioner of Information and Public Relations Department. In an exclusive interview with The Hindu on Monday after distributing PPE kits to journalists, Mr. Arvind Kumar elaborated on how the government was closely monitoring the situation. Edited excerpts:
How is the COVID-19 situation in Telangana, particularly Hyderabad, which has seen a number of positive cases?
The situation is vastly improving. Officials are closely monitoring the developments and there is a sharp decline in the number of positive cases being reported daily. The average positive cases has seen a dip in the past four days. This is a good sign. Our focus is on the containment zones in the twin cities. We were able to contain the spread from the initial foreign returnees and those who had attended Markaz in New Delhi. Our assessment has revealed that from 40 families, 250 positive cases were reported. There were fewer secondary transmissions, which shows that the spread has been contained to a large extent.
How is the lockdown being implemented in the State?
Telangana government was the first to realise lockdown is the only solution to contain the spread of pandemic. The strict measures taken by the government ensured that we were able to bring down the number of positive cases. There was an initial spurt but the spike has been contained. The good sign is that after the initial numbers, there is visible reduction in the positive cases. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has already said he would review the situation on May 5 ahead of the deadline of May 7 lockdown.
What steps are being taken to keep the situation under control in containment zones and clusters?
We are not leaving anything to chance. From initial 180 containment zones in the twin cities, we have now brought it down to 110 as the situation is improving to some extent. People, after the initial phase of difficulty, have cooperated very well with the administration. The seriousness of coronavirus spread is slowly going away. We have no immediate plans of reducing the number of containment zones. We are monitoring the situation on a daily basis. As the new cases are coming down, we are removing the old cases as per government protocol. But the houses from where the positive cases were reported will continue to be under close watch. They will be sealed till the situation becomes normal.
What are the precautions taken by employees deployed at containment zones?
We are taking extra care of all the workforce in the containment zones. They have been given safety kits and all the staff members who show any symptom of COVID-19 are asked to report immediately.
Migrant workers seem to be at the receiving end and there are dozens of instances of the desperate workers trying to exit the city for their native places. What steps has the government taken to convince them to stay put in their respective locations?
Our approach towards the migrant workforce has been different from the beginning. As soon as COVID-19 hit the State, we anticipated migration of labour due to lockdown. We began to trace the migrant workforce in construction camps within in the Outer Ring Road limits. We mapped 289 on site construction camps where close to 45,000 labourers used to stay. GHMC officials and Municipal Administration Minister K.T. Rama Rao had a meeting with builders and requested them to take care of migrant workers. From GHMC side, we have appointed one officer for each of the 289 camps. Workers are given ration, healthcare facilities and told to maintain social distancing.
What about the other migrant workers and distressed people?
There are around 10,000 standalone migrant labourers in the city working in different sectors. We have set up two temporary shelters for them. All these workers have been tied to Annapurna centres for free meals. Wherever necessary, essential commodities are also provided to them.
How is the government addressing the request for shortage of essential commodities and food for the needy?
The EVDM wing has been pro-active in reaching out to the retailers in the twin cities to enquire about the supply of essential commodities. Initially, there was shortage of commodities in the market but that has been resolved. Now the supply chain is working perfectly. We do not foresee any severe shortage of essential commodities in the markets.
While the lockdown is being strictly implemented, there are complaints from citizens and shops are being forced to close early...
We also received complaints that many shops were closing down by 1 p.m. We have issued orders that all shops will be opened till 6 p.m. and no customer should be put to inconvenience. We have prepared zone-wise list of shops and the timings.
What is the role of Annapurna canteens in lockdown times?
Before COVID-19, the 120-odd Annapurna centres used to serve 40,000 meals at ₹5 each. After the lockdown was announced, we scaled up our operations with the help of Akshaya Patra Foundation by increasing the number of centres to 300. We are now serving 2.2 lakh meals, both lunch and dinner, absolutely free of cost. We also pressed into service mobile vans that go around the city with cooked food and serve the needy wherever they are found.
The government appears have to taken advantage of the lockdown to take up works in the twin cities on a war footing...
Right now, ₹1,500 crore worth of works are going on in Hyderabad. All major roads are being given a fresh look. Earlier, we used to get only three to four hours to take up road repair works. Due to lockdown, now we are able to get 12-14 hours of quality time and the work has been expedited by four times. The work on the new bridge near Punjagutta crematorium has been expedited. So is the case with several flyovers in the city.
The flyover work near Owaisi Hospital, which was delayed for almost two years, is now being taken up on a war footing. By May 5, we are confident of completing the foundation works of all the pending flyover works. Once the foundation is laid, laying of other structures is easy.
Flyover work at Balanagar has been expedited. As regards roads, almost 160 kms of BT roads in the city have been relaid in a short span of time.
The government has given safety kits to journalists. Is there any move to request journalists covering COVID-19 activities to undergo precautionary tests?
Journalists, particularly those from electronic media and photographers, are in the frontline, so it was decided to provide them safety kits. Whenever a journalist shows COVID-19 symptoms, he or she should immediately report to the designated hospital for the requisite test.
