The councillor of Reethamandi, Itaat Khan, alleged that the people in his area are not getting any kind of help from the district administration, especially in the Muslim colony which was sealed after COVID-19 positive patients were found there. However, the district administration has denied the allegations, stating that essential items are being provided in the area.
The Dehradun district administration is claiming to provide all the essential items to the locals in the sealed areas of the city. Zakir Ansari, son of the sealed Bhagat Singh Colony councillor Illiyas Ansari informed that the police and district administration are providing all the essential items to the locals and destitute people in his ward.
"Ration, milk and even mobile ATMs are being provided by the administration for the locals of the ward. Though the garbage is not being picked up yet in this area, but sanitisation of the whole area is done regularly by municipal corporation of Dehradun, " said Ansari.
However, according to Itaat Khan , he has not received any help from the district administration regarding the ration being made available to the locals. "There are no means of buying ration or other necessary items like milk or tea for thousands of people in this area. The administration has not provided anything here for the last many days.
The destitute and daily wagers are bearing the brunt of this colony being sealed as they do not even have money to buy the ration," said Khan. "Even our MLA Vinod Chamoli and Dehradun mayor Sunil Uniyal 'Gama' did not contact me to know the condition of the locals. The police are doing the best they can, we have no issues with them," added Khan.
He said that he had talked to Dehradun DM Ashish Kumar Srivastava who assured him that all the necessary services will be provided in the said area but nothing has been done so far by the district administration.
Regarding allegations leveled by Khan, Dehradun Chief Development Officer (CDO) Nikita Khandelwal said that only Bhagat Singh Colony where maximum COVID-19 positive patients were found is completely sealed including the grocery stores.
The people of other areas can buy the necessary grocery items from the internal shops of their colony as they are not entirely sealed.
According to her, the district administration is providing ration and other essential items to the grocery stores in Muslim Colony so that locals can get the items from there.