Covid stalks city’s tech corridors

BBMP blames it on floating population, lack of enforcement of safety norms

Kumaran P. | NT

Bengaluru: While the state government has been requesting the citizens of Bengaluru to follow Covid appropriate behaviour, it is being largely ignored in parts of rural Bengaluru. Interestingly, the highest number of Covid-19 cases have been reported in the tech corridors of the city.

As per the data available, Bellandur topped the list with six cases, followed by Hagadur and Doddenakkundi (five cases each), Vasanth Pura and Begur (four cases each), HSR Layout, Vijnana Nagar, Horamavu, Hoodi and Konanakunte (three cases each).

“We have ramped up testing from 50,000 a day to 65-70 thousand over the last one week across the city. We are strictly imposing Covid appropriate behaviour in all parts of the city. We have also asked the Police to enforce CAB in rural parts of the city towards Mahadevapura, Sarjapura and other places. We are seeing that people are complying with safety protocols in the heart of the city, but there are violations in rural parts. This is one of the reasons why we are seeing a rise in cases,” said Dr Gurla Srinivas, District Health Officer.

He further added that, “Many people living in these areas are working in tech companies and most of them travel to Mumbai or Pune. Considering Maharashtra to be the red zone in the country, travelers from this state have been tested continuously. This is also why we see the rise in the number of Covid-19 positive cases in the tech corridors of the city.”

The BBMP has also released the list of least number of positive cases in the last 10 days: Gali Anjaneya Temple, Ejipura, Hombegowda Nagar, Sunkenahalli, Azad Nagar, Chalavadipalya, Rayapura, Jagajivanram Nagar, Padarayanapura and Bapuji Nagar.

“The BBMP always blames it on the citizens, there are no enforcing officers in the Mahadevapura ward. Many people roam around without masks, but no action is being taken. Therefore, there are bound to be more cases in the tech corridors,” said Sukruth Nair, a techie.

A senior official from BBMP said that testing should be ramped up for domestic flights including international flights.

“As of now the testing across Bengaluru city has been increased and now based on the recent reports we will plan accordingly to concentrate more on these affected areas” says a BBMP senior official requesting anonymity.