KOCHI: Ever since the Chellanam area was declared a containment zone on July 3, the residents of the area have been struggling to procure food items. Though food packets were distributed in the area by various political organisations and even K J Maxi, MLA, in the last couple of days, most of the residents are yet to receive them.According to a resident of Malikaparambu, one of the three hotspots in the panchayat, only 200 out of the 456 households in the area -- home to over 2,000 people -- had received the food packets. “The small kits that they distributed barely lasted for two days. As we are unable to go to work during this period, we don’t even have the money to purchase food from shops in the area,” the resident said.
Bishi J, who also resides in Malikaparambu, said the food packets were only being distributed to those who were identified as primary contacts of infected persons. “The supply will definitely have to be scaled up if any positive case is reported here in the coming days,” he said. P T George, panchayat member of Chellanam, said the situation was bound to get worse as one more case of suspected Covid-19 infection was identified in the region on Saturday. So far, only 80 per cent of the primary contacts living in the area have been given food packets. The limited stock available at the ration shops in the area remains a concern, he said. “The residents are also unable to go to the shop to purchase things as an infected person had visited the area earlier,” he explained.
A similar situation prevails in the Fisherman Colony, where only 25 packets of food were distributed by the MLA, in a region that has up to 379 households. Due to the limited availability of kits, a 10-member group in association with the Latin Churches in South Chellanam is planning to distribute free food packets to the residents of the three hotspot areas -- Malikaparambu, Fisherman Colony, and Chellanam -- of the panchayat. Meanwhile, K J Maxi, MLA, has assured the residents that more food packets will be distributed in the coming days.