The only thing close to a public announcement that Baby Prabhakaran, a 67-year-old woman from Mulavukad panchayat, was used to till now was the muezzin’s calls for prayer from the nearby mosque and the sacred chants played by temples in her neighbourhood during the Ramayana month.
But all that changed earlier this week when Ward 3 of the panchayat within which she lives all alone was declared a containment zone after a woman in her neighbourhood and her family tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
Since then, she has become accustomed to frequent public announcements by the police, asking people to stay indoors and strictly follow the containment protocol.
Notwithstanding the nearly two-month-long lockdown, people are finding it hard to get used to life in containment zones, which now covers nearly 70 wards across various local bodies in the district.
“During the lockdown there was this small relief in knowing that it was applicable to all. Containment is different in that you remain locked in when the rest of the world goes about its business. It is like living in a ghost town,” said Naveen James, a postgraduate law student living in Ward 43 of Palarivattom, a containment zone.
For a small idyllic fishing hamlet like Chellanam, which in its entirety is a containment zone, the complete shutdown presents livelihood challenges.
“With trawling ban in place, this was the time when small fishermen in country boats used to earn enough that helped them last for the rest of the year, and that was beginning to reflect in the general economic scene in Chellanam. They were earning anywhere between ₹3,000 and ₹4,000 a day when the harbour remained closed and the entire panchayat was declared a containment zone. Now, that season is as good as gone,” said Thomas Gregory, a resident of Chellanam and block general secretary of the Congress party.
Mujeeb E.M., a resident of a containment zone in Thrikkakara, describes a containment zone as an “open jail”. Now, after being stopped from going to office by the police, he has now chosen to work from home.
Jaseel Hansal, a resident of Aluva, finds life in a containment zone confused. “People do realise the need to stay home but have no clue as to what is happening within the zone,” he said.
