Baranagar municipality area under complete lockdown for four days

Kolkata: Baranagar Municipality with all its 34 wards in North 24-Parganas will be under complete lockdown for four days till August 10.

The move has been taken with an aim to break the Covid chain that has been a major cause of worry for the civic body that shares its border with Kolkata and also parts of Howrah and Hooghly district. The state government has already announced complete lockdown in Bengal on August 5 and 8. The civic body in association with Barrackpore Police Commissionerate will observe complete lockdown on August 4 and 10. "Baranagar is a densely populated area close to Kolkata and the population is of mixed nature.

There is a mix of multi-storied apartments as well as slums. So we have been strengthening our awareness initiative in localities as well as in market areas," said Aparna Moulik, Chairperson of Board of Administrators of Baranagar Municipality.

She added that the situation will be reviewed after ten days and then further containment measures if needed will be implemented. Since the start of the outbreak of Covid, Baranagar has had around 700 positive cases and majority of them have already been cured. The mortality rate is a little over 2 per cent.

A senior official of the civic body said that the municipality with assistance from the police has restricted the entry and exit of people at the local markets to avoid crowding.

"In most of the markets we have created two gates — one for entry and another for exit so that we can regulate the flow of people inside the market.

Announcement about the Covid safety protocols through microphone is being made on a regular basis in markets," added the official.

Facilities of swab tests have been created at Baranagar State General Hospital and around 30 tests are being conducted daily.

The municipality will soon start a 12-bed safe home facility at an abandoned building at Alambazar area.