Battle Against COVID: The Dharavi Model
Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
Cameraperson: Sanjoy Deb
The 'Dharavi Model' in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic has often been considered a people's movement that has inspired the world. When the world was struggling to fight the deadly virus, Mumbai's Dharavi managed to heal its wounds the fastest and set an example.
How was this possible? What is this much-appreciated 'Dharavi Model'? The Quint's Ritvick Bhalekar spoke to ground-level health experts, health workers, and locals to find out how this model kept the area in Mumbai safe in the face of the second COVID wave.
Dharavi, a locality in Mumbai, is considered to be one of Asia's largest slums. With an area of close to 2.4 square kilometres and a population of nearly 7.5 lakh, Dharavi is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
Contact tracing, social distancing, and checking the spread of infection was, naturally, the biggest challenge. When lockdown was announced, implementing the restrictions and at the same time, providing health check-ups, providing ration, medicines, and other essentials were the obstacles.
The solution to the dense population was to extensively follow the four Ts – trace, track, test and treat. BMC, local health experts and health workers, and private doctors played a key role.
When The Quint spoke to residents of Dharavi, they said that there were regular health camps, extensive check-ups, and door-to-door campaigns organised by BMC officials.
BMC officials ensured that symptomatic patients were immediately taken to quarantine centres and tested and those who tested positive were either shifted to hospitals or taken to isolation centres, based on the severity of the infection. But, various myths and rumours around the condition of these centres posed a big challenge before them.
Given the dense population in Dharavi, ground-level workers had to isolate symptomatic residents and those who tested positive to these centres to break the chain of the virus. So, the only option was to debunk the myths and put an end to all rumours.
Admitting that many of them were hesitant in the beginning, the residents told The Quint that soon they realised the important of these centres and appreciated the efforts of the healthcare and other service providers.
Given that Dharavi is one of Asia's largest slums, with a huge population, contact tracing and breaking the chain was the next big challenge ahead of the BMC and the local healthcare workers.
Multiple teams of healthcare providers and community workers were deployed for the job. The BMC created a WhatsApp group of all doctors who could be consulted. Beside door-to-door campaigning, testing and isolation were initiated. People who were staying in the hotspots were provide essential items so they didn't have to step out.
Praising the BMC and ground-level workers for their efficiency, Dharavi's most vulnerable – the elderly residents – told The Quint that regular check-ups and tests in the locality safeguarded them against the virus.
Like many people across the country, several residents of Dharavi, too, were hesitant about taking the corona vaccine. Getting all eligible residents to take the vaccine shots at the earliest was another challenge.
Ground-level teams conducted door-to-door campaigns to spread awareness and even helped all adults with registrations for doses.
The residents of Dharavi said that the healthcare workers and BMC officials helped reduce vaccine hesitancy among people and initiated a fast-paced vaccination drive in the area.
Given the diverse groups of people who stay in Mumbai's biggest slum, spreading awareness, conducting campaigns, and debunking myths for individuals groups was a big obstacle.
BMC officials and ground-level teams ensured awareness drives and campaigns were conducted in multiple languages.
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