Containment plan not fit for housing societies: Residents
Sealing 3,000 families in 20 or 30 towers for 21 days will put jobs in jeopardy, ask govt to seal only affected towers
NOIDA: Residents and developers have demanded that the Uttar Pradesh government and the Gautam Budh Nagar administration change the ongoing containment zone plan that is “fit for villages and small towns and not for group housing towers”.
UP chief secretary RK Tiwari said he will address genuine grievances on the plan.
The district administration on Tuesday, following protests that sealing the entire society for one positive case hampered their work, redefined containment zone plan for high-rises. It said that if there is only one case, then only the tower concerned will be sealed. However, if there were more, then all towers in a 500m radius will be sealed for 21 days.
But residents argue that since family members of a patient are likely to contract the disease, the change in rules were of no use as it invariably meant the society would be sealed.
Residents of Supertech Ecovillage 1 in Sector 1, Panchsheel Greens 2 in Sector 16 and Hynish society in Sector 1, Greater Noida West have demanded that authorities seal only those towers from where the positive cases are reported.
They said as offices, industrial units and factories have reopened, working professionals are unable to go to offices and are on the verge of losing jobs due to the “faulty” the containment zone plan.
Supertech Ecovillage 1 has 61 towers of which 20 are underconstruction and 41 are occupied by at least 3,200 families.
“One resident tested positive for Covid-19 on May 23 and, later, his wife and child also tested positive. The administration then sealed all 61 towers. They should have instead sealed just the one tower where the family lived and allowed others to go about their daily lives. People would lose jobs if these towers remain sealed for next 21 days, and that is only if no fresh case is reported or else the sealing will be extended,” Abhishek Kumar, a resident of this society and president of Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association, said.
Similarly, all 22 towers of Panchsheel Greens 2 and 12 towers of Hynish society were sealed after more than one case was reported from these societies.
“My son cannot go to office and we have to walk in this heat to fetch essentials. It would have been better if the administration had sealed only the tower from which the cases were reported,” Rani Mahajan, a senior citizen of Panchsheel Greens, said.
Developers have requested district magistrate Suhas LY and Tiwari to change containment zone plan as they are unable to carry out construction work on the remaining towers.
“We have 400 migrant workers at our Hynish and Panshcheel Green 2 site. If they stay without work at the site for a long time, then they will return to their villages. Since even under-construction towers are sealed,our business is suffering,” Ashok Chaudhary, promoter, Panchsheel Group, said.
Distric Magistrate Suhas said, “We have to follow state government guidelines in this regard. But in view of developers and residents’ demands, we have sent a report to the government and asked it to reconsider modifying the rules.”