The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) has finally started to take some preventive measures on its compound after the first case of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was reported in the city.
However, these measures appear to be inadequate considering the fact that hundreds of people from across the city visit the MCD compound daily for various works. The Central and State Governments have taken various precautions against coronavirus but MCD did not initiate any precautionary measures until Monday within its own compound.
While talking to The Pioneer, the municipal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said, “We have cancelled all the bookings of Town Hall till March 31 and have also set up a camp in the compound to distribute sanitisers and masks among the people.
We have also appealed people to pay their property tax online to avoid visiting the MCD. Besides, the employees working in the corporation have been told to use masks and sanitisers for their safety,” added Pandey.
However, due to the holidays last week, reportedly about 1,000 persons arrived at MCD on Monday to pay property tax. Besides, the cash depositing counters were reportedly shifted last week with the other counters in the same room which became very congested by noon and the number of people wearing masks was negligible.
Pandey further said, “We have prohibited the use of the open gym in Gandhi Park and around one lakh pamphlets are about to be printed to spread public awareness.”
Meanwhile, the kiosk set up by MCD to distribute masks saw all the masks being exhausted in less than fifteen minutes.
The locals waited in queue to get the masks but the stock of masks did not arrive for almost an hour due to which some people had arguments with the staff about the delay.