The coronavirus began to rear its ugly head in Dharavi in north-central Mumbai on Wednesday, as the total numbers of persons testing positive for the pandemic rose to 10 in Asia’s largest slum.
As Mumbai battles against the spread of coronavirus, Dharavi is being seen as its Achilles’ heel right from the day one of Covid-19 outbreak in the metropolis. The health authorities get alarmed if one case gets reported from this most densely populated area in the world. For, they apprehend that there could be community spread of the pandemic in this slum.
On Wednesday, the total number of infected cases touched ten as a 50-year-old female sanitary worker tested positive for the pandemic at the KEM Hospital. She is a resident of Muslim Nagar in Dhavari.
Dharavi, where a 56-year-old resident of Dharavi’s Shahunagar area, succumbed to the pandemic on April 1, has been in the news since then for being the most sensitive area where community spread of the disease is easy. Giving the details of the coronavirus infection in Dharavi, a spokesperson of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said here on Wednesday: “Till today, there have been 10 cases in Dharavi. Four cases have been reported from Dr Baliga Nagar where one person died and three persons are hospitalised. A 35-year-old male doctor from Vaibhav Apartment has tested positive for the pandemic, while two men – aged 49 years and 25 years – are infected in Mukund Nagar. A 21-year youngster has tested positive in Madina Nagar, while 35 year man from Dhanwada Chawl who lives in Wadala hostel has tested positive. Today, one 50-year-oldwoman from Muslim tested positive in Muslim Nagar”.
Taking serious cognisance of growing number of Coronavirus cases in Dharavi, State Health Minister Rajesh Tope directed the police to enforce the “lockdown strictly” in the dense slum.
Talking to persons, Tope said: “ Apart from ensuring social distancing, it is very essential that lockdown is enforced very strictly in Dharavi. The police should take stern action against those defying lockdown regulations in Dharavi”.
On Tuesday, Tope had visited Dharavi police station to take stock of the situation in the area. Local Congress MLA and School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad had accompanied him.
Located between Western Railway’s Bandra-Matunga and Central Railway’s Sion-Matunga stations in north-central Mumbai, Dharavi is home to over anywhere from 60,000 to 70,000 families. The Mithi River slices through a portion of Dharavi into the Mahim Creek and then onto the Arabian Sea. Spread over 240-hectare area, Dharavi has remained an ugly face and a dark underbelly of Mumbai – a largest slum which has been romanticised in Indian films over the years.