The rise in the number of COVID-19 or coronavirus cases in Asia’s largest urban slum in the heart of India’s commercial capital Mumbai is giving sleepless nights to authorities.
One of the densely populated areas in the world, where seven million people live in an area of 2.1 square kilometers (0.81 square miles), it is becoming impossible to enforce social distancing. Local leaders believe that poor sanitation, open drains and inadequate health facilities rampant in the area are all a recipe for an imminent disaster.
The slum has so far reported nine infected cases and one death. While most of them had contracted the infection from people who had traveled abroad, locals fear that a community-level transmission is not far away in the tightly packed clusters.
Mohammad Ayyub Sheikh, 48, a local trader, who also heads an NGO Dharavi People’s Help Group, said they were trying their best that people maintain hygiene. Slightly better off than others, he lives in a 400-square feet one-bedroom home with his family of six. The majority of the population in the area cannot afford to stay indoors in their dingy room for want of fresh air.
“How can you expect families of four to eight members to stay indoors in an 80-150 sq ft home round the clock? They need fresh air,” Ayyub told Anadolu Agency. He has been working hard over the past few days to spread awareness about the COVID-19 and is helping the community to observe precautions.
“We are making sure that people know the importance of maintaining hygiene. Every day, we are moving in the lanes, announcing the importance of washing hands and distributing food packages [including rice, onions, sugar, biscuits] to those even less fortunate than us,“ he said.
The western Indian state of Maharashtra, which includes Mumbai, has become the hub of coronavirus in India with 1,078 positive cases and 64 deaths.
