Pune: Authorities in Pune in Maharashtra on Monday said they planned to "decongest" slums in wake of the relentless spread of coronavirus and asked people living in some of these pockets to shift to facilities set up by the civic body.
Densely populated areas like Bhavani Peth, Kasba, Shivajinagar, Dhole Patil Road and Yerawada, all of which have large slum colonies, have so far reported 800 COVID-19 cases, officials pointed out.
Bhavani Peth is of particular concern as cases here stand at a whopping 245 as on Sunday, they said.
"There are several areas which are part of coronavirus hotspots and have congested settlements, and social distancing is almost next to impossible. Therefore, we have decided to decongest some slum areas," said Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram.
"People who think their houses are too small can move into makeshift facilities," he added.
Pune Municipal Corporation chief Shekhar Gaikwad said makeshift facilities had been set up in schools in these areas, and the objective was decongesting areas for some days to stop the virus from spreading.
"If say there are six-seven members in a household, and one of them is an elderly person, then most can shift to our temporary facilities and one person can stay back with the elderly person," he suggested.
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