OVER 1,000 CASES IN DHARAVI

MUMBAI:Dharavi, India’s largest slum cluster in Mumbai, crossed the 1,000 mark of positive coronavirus (Covid-19) cases on Wednesday,with 66 new cases . It has so far recorded 1028 cases and 40 deaths.

In a change of strategy dictated by the new civic chief, Iqbal Chahal, the civic body has reduced the number of containment zones in Dharavi from 213 to 20 by merging smaller areas.

Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner

of BMC’s G North Ward, under which Dharavi falls, said, “We are also appointing citizens as volunteers to ensure that people do not venture out in containment zones.”

Around 2,500 citizens, identified as high risk, from Dharavi, are in quarantine.

Chahal has directed all ward officers to map highrisk areas within their containment zones.

On Wednesday, a senior BMC official tested positive. An IAS officer, identified as a close contact of the BMC official, who tested positive, was also quarantined.