1. Forced to Stay Back, Lakhs of Migrants in Cities Unclear How to Access Rations
For lakhs of migrant workers in Maharashtra, lack of clear information has continued to cause anxiety, especially after the Centre and state governments issued instructions Sunday to prevent them from attempting to return to their native places. Their biggest concern being accessible accommodation and food for the remainder of the 21-day lockdown period.
“What’s going to happen will be reminiscent of the Bengal famine — there is food available but no access to it,” said Chandan Kumar of the Angmehnati Kashtakari Sangharsh Samiti, an umbrella organisation representing construction labourers, casual labourers, waste-pickers, domestic workers, head-loaders and other unorganised workers.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Residents Don’t Want Shelter Homes for Migrants in Their Areas, Claim It Puts Them at Risk
Just as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray declared on Sunday that 163 emergency safe spaces were up and running in the state to shelter stranded the homeless, including migrant labourers, 40-year-old Shanta Sawant was in fact turned away from one of them.
At some places in Mumbai, local residents have taken exception to such centres being put up in their locality and have claimed that this puts them at risk.
“Around 3 pm on Saturday, we were first taken to a (civic-run) school. But we weren’t let inside. Later, they took us to a community centre. But we were targeted by the local residents who didn’t want to be anywhere near us, so we returned,” said Sawant, who was among the 28 construction labourer families to face discrimination in Jogeshwari’s Ram Nagar.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Mumbai’s Daily Peak Air Pollution Falls 80% Amid Coronavirus Lockdown: CSE Study
The pollutant-measuring indicator – air quality index (AQI) – in the city has remained in the ‘satisfactory’ category for the past one week now due to the lockdown in view of coronavirus pandemic, but researchers have now assessed improvements using a more focused approach.
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Delhi, analysed the hourly trend in particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) for Mumbai and Navi Mumbai on regular days (average of 18 and 19 March 18), during lockdown (25 and 26 March), and also last Sunday (22 March) — the one-day Janta Curfew. The daily peak NO2 concentration fell by 85% during lockdown and 83% on the Janta Curfew day in Mumbai, and 72% and 86% in Navi Mumbai. The sharp drop in levels was attributed to lack of vehicles, industrial and construction activities.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. 30,000 Police Personnel Guard Mumbai Keep Vigil Over Coronavirus Lockdown Violation; 6,784 Firs Filed Across Maharashtra
A robust force of more than 30,000 Mumbai Police personnel have been manning the city during the ongoing lockdown to ensure that citizens do not step out of their homes except for emergency services and to facilitate the smooth supply of essential commodities to Mumbaaiites.
Mumbai Police have registered 266 first information reports (FIRs) and arrested 467 people for flouting lockdown orders till Saturday night, even as 6,784 FIRs were filed across Maharashtra until Sunday under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. COVID-19: IIT Bombay Develops Two Apps to Track Violations by Those in Quarantine
As the coronavirus crisis spreads, IIT-Bombay has come up with two mobile applications that can track violations by people supposed to be in quarantine.
Developed by the Computer Science and Engineering department, the apps are called “Corontine” and “Safe”. While Corontine can register asymptomatic carriers and track them to check if they are confined to their quarantined zones, Safe checks for violations by those asked to be home-quarantined.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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