Mumbai’s ‘Dharavi model’ helps tame second COVID-19 wave in slum town
The Hindu
The sharp rise in cases pushed the civic authorities to once again fall back on the “Dharavi model” which involved 4Ts – tracing, tracking, testing and treating.
After reporting up to 99 cases every day in April, Mumbai’s slum colony of Dharavi has seen a gradual drop in single-day infections – below 5 – in the last couple of days with the tally of patients under treatment dropping to 50, marking a turnaround in the second wave. The ‘Dharavi model’ of management and the vaccination drive have helped in successfully containing the second wave in the area, officials said. A steady drop in coronavirus cases in Dharavi, a sprawling and congested shanty town which was once a COVID-19 hotspot, has brought huge relief to the civic authorities in Mumbai.The fear of being caught for traffic rule violation has indeed compelled many two-wheeler riders to wear helmets. But one cursory look at riders at any traffic junction in Bengaluru shows that more than half the riders have on their heads non-standard helmets, designed solely to evade the eye of law, with little concern for the safety of their own heads.
When Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, Beijing promised to retain the city’s Western-style civil liberties for 50 years. However, since the introduction of the 2020 law, Hong Kong authorities have severely limited free speech and assembly under the rubric of maintaining national security.