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West Bengal: Spread of disease to new Salt Lake neighbourhoods worries civic officials

KOLKATA: Fresh Covid-19 cases are being reported from new localities in Salt Lake at a time when all establishments are gradually opening their doors.


Till about two weeks ago, the number of persons tested Covid-19 positive in Bidhannagar civic body area was less than 100 — many of them recovered and returned home.

Of the 91 persons, who had tested positive, only about 20 were from Salt Lake area and the rest from the Rajarhat area of the civic body covering pockets of Baguiati, Tegharia. Narayanpur Raghunathpur and Kaikhali.


What is worrying the civic authorities is that in the last 10 to 15 days, total number of Covid positive persons in Bidhannagar civic body area has crossed 140, with fresh cases coming up from Salt Lake’s AH Block, Baisakhi Abason, Laboni, FC block and BA Block.

Two weeks ago, only three wards falling in Salt Lake — 32, 33 and 34 — were listed as red zones. The localities mostly fell in Sector III area of the township — between Karunamoyee to Salt Lake stadium, including blocks like FD, FC, IB, HB, HA and GC. Some cases were reported from Sector II area and Sector I had only a few cases.

With the fresh cases coming up, wards that were listed as green zones a fortnight ago have now come under red zones.

The civic authorities admitted that Covid-19 cases were on the rise in its jurisdiction. Not only in Salt Lake, there has also been a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in Rajarhat jurisdiction area of the civic body. Fresh 33 cases have been reported from Baguiati, Tegharia, Raghunathpur, Narayanpur and Kaikhaili in the last few days.

Citing a possible reason as to why more Covid-19 cases are being reported from its Rajarhat jurisdiction areas falling off VIP Road compared to Salt Lake, civic officials said the areas have several commercial establishments where people from outside have started coming.

“Salt Lake, on the other hand, is primarily a residential township, which may be a reason why the number of cases are relatively lower there,” said an official. Mayor Krishna Chakraborty said the civic body was doing as much as possible to contain the spread.

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