Dharavi is on the verge of winning the war

Asia's most crowded slum, Dharavi is on the verge of winning the war against pandemic where places within the country with less population density are struggling to flat the curve. Dharavi has an area of 2.1 square kilometres and a population of about 1,000,000, with a population density of 717,780/sq mi.

As official in India announced lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19, this will not likely to work in the Asia's most crowded slum.

Officials have worried intially about rate of spread of virus, but gradually Dharavi chased the virus. Officials have screened more than 7,50,000 people and according to Bloomberg data, number of cases per day are decreasing steadily. High recovery rate and analysis of virus origin are major parts contribute to Dharavi success.

         Source: Bloomberg

“It was next to impossible to follow social distancing.The only option then was to chase the virus rather than wait for the cases to come. To work proactively, rather than reactively" said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner at Mumbai’s municipality.

Dharavi success strategy include strict lockdown, accessible medical facilities and free services. People with symptoms are reaching out to Medical authorities voluntarily which helps authorities to track and contain the virus. Simultaneously authorities provided people with rations, food and medicines at their doorstep in a bid to keep them indoors. The roads were sanitised every day and public areas and public toilets were disinfected daily.

As number of cases are reducing drastically and Dharavi is no longer a sealed zone.

Authorities have knocked on 47,500 doors since April to measure temperatures and oxygen levels. Screening camps were regularly held where people were scanned for fever and blood oxygen levels. Locals doctors are also participated by offering their services. This combined effort from doctors and Dharavi's people extreme cooperation helped Dharavi to tackle the virus and iron-out the situation where, 491 cases in April and 1,216 in May, the number dropped to 274 in June.

There is so much about Dharavi to learn about and the battle against pandemic is not over until Dharavi is Covid-19 free zone. It is now on the verge of winning the war.