The second wave: Covid cases going up, Thane opts for 'limited lockdowns'

Local businesses hit, bigger industries coping better

Mayur Mishra, who runs a mattress shop outside Varthak Nagar, a containment zone in Thane, is a worried man. He has not had a single customer for the last three days.
 
“I don’t know how I will pay my rent (Rs 10,000 a month),” he says. He could not pay it during the lockdown. “The owner says I need to repay it in instalments. Even if I return to my hometown, I will need to pay the house rent.”
 
Mishra was among the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh who had gone back to their hometown from Mumbai and nearby areas during the lockdown. But he later came back to the city in the hope that normalcy would return. Now, as Thane’s Municipal Corporation increases the number of containment zones with the spike in Covid-19 cases, he is feeling jittery.
 
“If there is another lockdown, we are finished,” he says.
 
While going about his daily work, Mishra is cautious. “Whenever a customer calls for service in a high-risk zone, I ask the watchman whether everything is fine or not. Only then do I go,” he says.

 
Shobha, who runs a juice shop nearby, is also struggling because of a sharp drop in business. “There is hardly any customer now. I have started working as a house help to supplement my income,” she says. “But many have not paid salaries... I don’t know what to do.”

 
Others echo the same frustration and helplessness. “Earlier I used to earn Rs 1,000 a day. Now I hardly get Rs 300 to Rs 400. Forget about saving, I barely manage to meet my household expenses,” says Mahesh Kale, an auto-rickshaw driver.
 
Most of Kale’s passengers were people who would be heading for malls and theatres. But the pandemic has all but put an end such outings.
 
While several small businesses and tradespeople have been hit by the containment measures, bigger industrial units are coping better.
 
M M Brahme, general manager, Thane Belapur Industries Association (TBIA), says that so far member organisations have not felt the impact of the rising cases on their operations.
 
“Obviously, sales are down but manufacturing has not been impacted much. I feel SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) are facing more issues than larger industrial units,” Brahme says.
 
Companies, be it manufacturing or service firms, are following standard operating procedures (SOP) regarding medical care and safety since March 2020, he says, adding, “We engage with members regularly since the situation is still unfolding.” TBIA has more than 200 large and medium-sized companies such as Siemens, Asian Paints and Mukand Industries as its members.

 
Meanwhile, the Thane Municipal Corporation has taken a raft of measures to contain the spread of the pandemic.
 
On March 8, it announced a “limited lockdown” in micro containment zones in 16 hotspots till March 31. Though there were restrictions in place till February 28 in keeping with the state mandate, with numbers rising, a fresh list was prepared.
 
This led to panic and confusion among traders and residents who thought there would be curbs on movement and business activities. Later, the municipal corporation backtracked and clarified that the notice was merely to make people aware of the containment zones and that they should follow all the precautions regarding Covid-19.
 
The revised notification said that there were three containment zones in Kalwa administrative wards and one each in Naupada and Wagle Ward, and four buildings were identified as such zones in the Majiwada-Manpada wards.
 
The Vartak Nagar ward has two containment zones, while Lokmanya Sawarkar ward and Uthalsar have three each. The Thane municipal corporation currently has around 4,200 beds dedicated to Covid-19 patients, and will soon add another 1,000.
 
Abhijit Lele contributed to this report