Mumbai: Maids, deliverymen roam freely in and out of sealed buildings, residents not masking up

As COVID19 cases surge in the city the sealing of buildings has also picked up pace with 819 of them sealed currently Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has ordered the sealing of buildings with more than five cases while the floors with cases are to be sealed for a stipulated time However how strictly are the civic bodyrsquos directives being followed on the ground Read on to find out the reality through middayrsquos report from the groundZenith tower in Mulund had 71 cases four were reported on Feb 22Residents of most buildings told midday that they had no clue about the sealing and some said that they are taking precautions on their own While the resident of one society mentioned that arenrsquot followed anywayMahavir Shikhar had a notice declaring its sealing but no restrictions were observed PicsRajesh GuptaOn the other hand in a recently released list of 819 sealed buildings by the BMC on its website names of buildings that are sealed and those that have sealed floors have both been mentioned which has created confusion midday followed this list for its ground reportLokhandwala residency WorliAt 330 pm on Wednesday at Lokhandwala residency on Dr E Moses Road Worli people were freely entering and exiting the premises While the societyrsquos watchman said that there was only one case and that the society was not sealed a society member said that there were three positive cases of which two have recovered There was BMC notice inside and outside the societyShree Darshan CHS GoraiShree Darshan CHS in Gorai was sealed by the BMC recently after it reported five cases but neither the officials nor the residents knew about it Children played near the building and people moved about freely An officebearer of the society told midday ldquoThis is news to us We did not know about the sealing Nobody adheres to guidelines here anywayrdquo Samiullah KhanShiv Sagar CHS Tilak NagarShiv Sagar CHS in Tilak Nagar had no COVIDrelated restrictionsThe housing society has two towers one with 11 floors and the other with seven The building recently reported five cases and has been sealed but only on paper Except for a poster declaring the sealing of the building no COVIDappropriate behaviour was observed Residents were seen coming out of the building with no hindrance The societyrsquos office bearers were unavailable for commentMulund Darshan MulundThe society has nine wings with one wing having four cases and another one having two The entire complex has been classified as sealed While seven wings form one society two form a different one COVIDrelated precautions however were observed in neither society ldquoWe donrsquot know about the sealing we havenrsquot been told about itrdquo said a resident on condition of anonymity Secretary Kishore Mundekel said ldquoOnly two floors in our building have been sealed I donrsquot know why our buildingrsquos name was put on the list of sealed buildings Still we are taking all precautions and restricting the movement of residents from 10 pm to 5 amrdquoMahavir Shikhar LBS RoadThe complex has 170 flats with six buildings and the BMC has put up a poster declaring it as a lsquosealed buildingrsquo However no restrictions were observed while entering the complex According to the BMC the complex has more than five active cases and most of them are home quarantined Children were seen playing at the premises without masks while house help were seen going in and out of the complex without any checks Nikhil Parekh secretary of the building said ldquoWe are following all COVIDrelated guidelines There are cases but the society is managing itrdquoGolden Square SantacruzLocated at Garden Road near Sunder Nagar in Santacruz East the Golden Square building is supposed to be sealed But many children were seen playing at the premises without masks and adults roamed around the compound A security guard at the society said that a few days ago three positive patients were found all of whom have recovered A society member said that they did not receive any notice from the BMC about the sealing ldquoBMC also did not put any notice at the gate of our societyrdquo the resident saidZenith tower PK Road MulundAccording to a list released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC Zenith tower at PK Road is one of the sealed buildings So far it has reported 71 cases and four were added on February 22 However no effective measures were observed on the ground nor was any notification put up Shankar Jaiswal manager of the tower said that he was unaware of such a development ldquoWe have positive cases in the building but the BMC has not said anything about the sealing of the premises But we are taking precautionsrdquo he saidPowai woman flouts isolation orderCivic officials at L ward registered a case against a woman in her 50s for flouting quarantine rules A patient was reported positive at Everest Heights on February 14 Civic officials visited the building and told the residents to quarantine for seven days However on February 17 officials received information that a woman from the floor where the case was detected had left her home and travelled outside the city Officials rushed to the building and found a house help working in the womanrsquos house and her pet at the buildingrsquos premises The incident was reported to Powai police and an offence under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Epidemic Diseases Act was registeredTop wards with sealed buildingsTotal as of Feb 22 819T ward 150 buildingsR Central ward 139 buildingsK West ward 113 buildingsD ward 93 buildings