At Noida and Ghaziabad hotspots, some teething trouble on Day 1

While the administration released a list of fruit and vegetable suppliers for each of the 22 hotspots, along with their phone numbers for home delivery, people said many remained unreachable.

Written by Amil Bhatnagar

Noida | April 10, 2020 12:43 AM IST

3 min read

People standing at ration shops in noida after Uttar Pradesh to seal hotspots in 15 districts over coronavirus,Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav,080420

Over 1,000 police officers, working with officials from the district administration and state health department, ensured that 22 hotspots in Gautam Budh Nagar and 13 in Ghaziabad were sealed in a day’s time on Thursday.

On day 1, however, some complaints about lack of supply and non-functional helpline numbers came in, even as the administration requested cooperation. “We have allowed the supply of milk and groceries through online and door to door delivery in the entire district. Vegetables and fruit stalls are present at the gate of hotspots. Administration, police and authorities shall enable all suppliers, including Big Basket, Grofers, etc, to make deliveries. We are trying to minimise inconvenience,” said Suhas LY, the Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate.

While the administration released a list of fruit and vegetable suppliers for each of the 22 hotspots, along with their phone numbers for home delivery, people said many remained unreachable. Officials have allowed milk supply at the gate, and residents can collect it from outside their houses.

“The numbers are not reachable since morning. It needs to be addressed. Also, local vendors have increased prices. We understand this is an unprecedented task for the administration and we are trying to help ourselves as well,” said K K Sharma, secretary of a housing society in Sector 74.

In some areas, locals pooled in money to place bulk orders so grocery retailers can deliver supplies in one go.

In Ghaziabad, the administration has identified 29 doorstep delivery agents, 24 fruit and vegetable vendors, 29 milk vendors and 19 medical shops for home delivery across the 13 hotspots.

“We have released a list of numbers and four officials will be on duty in each hotspot in shifts. As per our estimate, there are approximately 70,000 people in the hotspots. In Murad Nagar hotspot, there have been around 20 positive patients while in others, there has been at least one case. Officials carried out contact tracing and hotspots were identified. Essential items will be supplied door to door,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, DM, Ghaziabad.

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In both districts, fire and health officials carried out extensive sanitisation through chemical spraying and cleaning. At least two constables have been placed at colony gates in the hotspots and SHOs of local police stations are making regular rounds.

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