The Ranchi District Administration has introduced mobile Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in Hindpiri locality –a Coronavirus hotspot of the city– to ensure that the residents here do not run out of cash as their exit from the locality is prohibited, an official communique from the District Administration said on Saturday.
"The mobile ATMs go around the different wards in Hindpiri at different times of the day, so that people can withdraw cash as per their requirement," said Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray. "We are committed in providing all possible facilities to the residents of the locality during this crisis," he added.
Hindpiri is the only containment zone in the State capital as of now, officials said. All the 17 COVID-19 cases reported in the city are from Hindpiri –a locality that runs adjacent to the Mahatma Gandhi Road, and connects Upper Bazar on one end and Pee Pee Compound on the other. By now, Ranchi has witnessed one Coronavirus death, and the victim was a 60-year-old resident of Hindpiri.
Meanwhile, GAIL (India) has been sanitising every nook and corner of the sealed locality to ensure safety of the residents here, Rai said. The locality, which includes slums, apartments and independent houses, was sealed earlier this month after a sudden surge in the number of Coronavirus cases here. "The entire locality is being sanitised every day. We are trying our level best to prevent further spread of the virus here," Rai said.
The first Coronavirus case of Jharkhand –a 22-year-old Malaysian woman– was apprehended along with 17 other foreign nationals from a mosque in Hindpiri last month. She tested positive on March 31. She attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi, and may have contracted the virus from one of the attendees in the religious gathering, health officials said.
While she was the only COVID-19 from Ranchi to have attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, health officials say that she came in contact with locals here and passed on the virus. Several residents of the locality, including youngsters and senior citizens, have tested positive since her case came to light, health officials said.
Soon after the Malaysian woman tested positive, the Government here faces stern resistance from locals in Hindpiri while screening people here, officials said. Many residents of the minority-dominated locality refused to get tested, suspecting that the data collected will be eventually used for National Population Register (NPR), a senior health official said.
However, the situation, officials said was brought under control by the intervention of some religious bodies that requested the locals to co-operate with the Government, sources said. At least 6000 families, officials said, were screened in the locality in the past fortnight or so. The process, they said, was ongoing.