Why are we being targetted? ask people from Mangor Hill
Mangor Hill, the epicentre of the COVID outbreak in Goa has been in the news of late ever since it tipped the scale, pushing Goa from a Green Zone to a State with ever-increasing COVID-19 numbers. However, for people living in the containment zone, life has been hard as not only have they been cut off from the rest of the State, they lament that they haven’t been looked after very well with there being problems in the supply of essential commodities to access to medical facilities. Many of them are also suffering from mental distress given the recent developments that have cost some of them their jobs and livelihoods too. It is to be noted that they have to pay for items like milk etc and cash circulation is on the low in the area with no ATMs or bank branches in the locality either and not many are accustomed to net banking and other forms of cashless transactions. All in all, they are fighting to survive as much as they are fighting against COVID-19 and stigma from all quarters. There are local Goan reisdents too in the containment zone and not all are migrants as has been the picture painted on social media platforms. Against this backdrop, here’s what residents from the hot spot had to say.
Since June 1, the Mangor Hill area was cordoned off after some cases of COVID were found. Initially for four days, we faced a lot of trouble as the news about the containment zone came as a shocker to us and people were not prepared for such an emergency and therefore many suffered.
We were expecting much help from the government’s side but we didn’t get what we expected. Whatever is happening here is politics. Selective people and their families are receiving help and essential items while the rest are still facing problems.
Few days back over 1,000 swab collection tests were done by the medical staff, but what about the other people from Mangor Hill. We are unaware about what is going to happen next and we are in constant tension. The sewerage is overflowing on the road, and during the rainy season, people are scared about contracting dengue and malaria, which may cause further damage to the people. I feel the government should have done swab testing of all the people from the containment zone swiftly. We got rice and dal after 13 days. What else we can expect. We are being treated worse than animals here.
—Balkrishna Salgaonkar
We the people from the containment zone are facing problems related to the supply of essential commodities. We have not received the support we expected to get from the government. People from Mangor Hill have been asking that mass swab collection is done but so far there is no such move in that direction. There have been infants and school-going children who have been deprived of milk as there is a problem of milk supply in our area. We don’t even get vegetables and fish in the containment zone. Many people from the containment zone want to withdraw cash to meet their daily requirements but are unable to do so as there no ATMs or bank branches in this area and this has made our plight even more difficult. I feel the government authorities should have acted swiftly and should have provided us with proper facilities, essential food items etc on time. We have been demanding for better supply of essential items and for mass swab testing.
—Nitin Parab
Now 13 days have passed but mass swab testing has not yet started despite this being the major demand of the people. So much time has gone down the drain. Instead, by now, hundreds of people would have been tested and would have known their status if such mass testing in the containment zone had started.
The COVID cases were spotted in ‘Chota Mangor’ area and not in ‘Bada Mangor’ area. So then only ‘Chota Mangor’ Hill area should have been brought under the containment zone and the ‘Bada Mangor’ Hill area should have been released from the containment zone.
The containment zone has hundreds of people from all age groups, who need timely medical services. There are people who have diabetes, kidney problems, asthma, heart patients, pregnant women, elderly women etc that need regular check-ups and a functioning ambulance service whenever required. The administration should have given a thought for making all the necessary arrangements for the people from Mangor Hill area before or immediately after cordoning off the area and declaring it as a containment zone. Here I feel the administration has failed to deliver its best.
—Amey Chopdekar
We got two kg of rice and one kg of dal a few days back. We are facing lots of problems with regards to essential commodities. For the last couple of days, we are getting a small amount of vegetables from our friends, who keep the vegetables at the barricades and we then go there to collect the same. Many people have lost their jobs also due to this pandemic. We have been asked not to move out and have been cordoned off, which has made out situation even worse. We have to pay and buy anything available on shops. We are deprived of facilities. We are sitting inside our homes and we are only connected to the outside world via social media. People have already started treating us with discrimination and stigma.
People from containment zones have been asked not to come to work and not sure of keeping these jobs too. How are we supposed to survive and earn to sustain our families? We are being treated like animals and not human beings.
—Basu Lamani
It’s an undeniable truth that people staying in the containment zone area suffering. We are short of money and other essential commodities. Survival has become a daunting affair in this testing time and this is crucial. People want that the government should have at least should do swab testing and check to see how all the people from the containment zone are doing. Most of the productive population from the containment zone is working on daily wages. All of them have been left with no money in their hands and are also suffering due to the unavailability of essential grocery items. The recent anger that one saw from the people living in the containment zone was after they received 1 kg of dal and two kgs of rice after ten days.
Residents feel that the government and the local administration should have done all the necessary arrangements within two days time after part of the Mangor hill area was declared as a containment zone. The Horticulture Corporation staff was providing vegetables packed in the bag for Rs 100. The people who could afford to purchase it did so but others were left high and dry as they had no money. We are being treated very badly. People living outside the containment zone think it’s an easy life and are commenting and trolling people from the containment zone on social media without having any idea about what kind of hardships we are going through.
—Goan resident
