Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam has withdrawn the the Bashundhara Residential Area (R/A) lockdown, which was supposed to go into effect from Thursday midnight.
Atiqul Islam confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune on Thursday.
He said: “Bashundhara R/A is not going to be put into lockdown after 12pm tonight (Thursday)."
“There was a miscommunication after the announcement of the lockdown was made through a microphone in Bahsundhara, which was actually a misinformation,” the mayor said.
Regarding announcement, Ward-40 Councillor Nazrul Islam Dhali said: “The announcement was made to the residents to be cautious, as we heard that Bashundhara R/A was marked as a red zone due to surge in Covid-19 cases.”
“Until further notice, no lockdown is taking place in Bashundhara R/A. I am the ward councillor of this area and I did not announce anything. I came to know that some children had done this!” Nazrul added.
Earlier on Wednesday night, an announcement was made in the residential area about going into complete lockdown from Thursday midnight due to surge in Covid-19 cases, which the Bhatara police station Officer-In-Charge Moktaruzzaman confirmed.
At the time, he also said police would assist the local authorities to implement a strict lockdown.
During the announcement on loud speakers residents of Bashundhara were asked to stock their daily essentials in advance.
Earlier, while speaking on the matter, Nazrul said they would hold a meeting with police and other stakeholders on Thursday on whether the lockdown will be imposed or not.
“If we backtrack from the position, we will let people know via another announcement in the area,” he said.
The meeting was scheduled to take place at 11am on Thursday at the office of Bashundhara Welfare Society, an association of owners of the residential area. However no meetings took place.
According to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), till now, 129 people have been infected with Covid-19 in Bashundhara R/A.
Bashundhara is among the 17 areas under Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and 45 areas under Dhaka city where the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) for fighting Covid-19 on Saturday recommended placing “red zone” category to prevent further spread of transmission.
Currently, a pilot for zone-wise lockdown is underway at East Rajabazar which started on June 10.
