CHENNAI: The novel coronavirus has brought many cities around the world to its knees and Chennai is no exception. The city Corporation is now focussing on slums to prevent spread of the virus. According to Corporation officials, an increasing number of those who have tested positive recently, including in areas like the Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones which record highest cases, were found to be from slums, where containment is a big a challenge.
On May 8, eight individuals tested positive on a single day from a slum at Kannappar Thidal in Periamet. Several informal settlements in Choolai, like in Asirvathapuram and Thattankulam, also record-high number of cases.So far, at least 52 slums in the city have been identified as being containment zones (having COVID positive cases).
Joint Commissioner (Health) Madhusudhan Reddy told Express that the corporation has developed a ‘slum focused strategy’. On Saturday, a meeting with NGOs and medical experts was held to chalk out a plan for containing spread in slums.
Dr Beena Thomas, consultant social scientist, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), who is part of the initiative said, “ Our priority is the involvement of civic society. First, a list of NGOs that are willing to join the programme is being taken and once done, they will be linked to specific slums.”
“We will also look for volunteers from slums who will be able to take ownership of the initiative and other influential persons within the slums to help in community sensitisation,” she added.
There are around 2173 slums in the city, of which around 787 are developed (concretised) and around 256 with limited access to water and sanitation. In these cases, public toilets shared by multiple families are also an area of concern since it may aid in the rapid spread of infections.
Vanessa Peter, policy researcher, Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) said, “The priority areas should be all slums in red zones, slums with limited access to water and sanitation, habitations of homeless individuals and resettlement sites.”