Hyderabad: Finally, Mallepally market area breathes freely

Mallepally division was one of the zones where a large number of Covid-19 positive cases were reported and declared a Covid-19 containment zone. The 'containment' tag is being removed, as no fresh cases have been reported for past 25 days

Hyderabad: The Mallepally market area which was placed under containment on Thursday heaved a sigh of relief and slowly business establishments saw the light of the day.

Despite completion of 24 days after being placed under quarantine, the failure of authorities to provide relaxation prompted the local MLA, Jaffar Hussain Meraj, to intervene. He along with GHMC officials took stock of the situation on Thursday, following which the marketplace witnessed opening of the shutters.

However, 8ft barricades remained intact enclosing the Badi Masjid of Mallepally considered to be the headquarters of State's Tablighi Jamaat, even though no fresh cases were reported ever since the area was quarantined. The barricading which also covers the road is hindering movement of vehicles.

Mallepally division was one of the zones where a large number of Covid-19 positive cases were reported and declared a Covid-19 containment zone. Earlier, Minister KT Rama Rao and Principal Secretary Somesh Kumar also paid a visit and inspected the area.

According to the GHMC officials, as of now the tag of 'containment' is being removed, as no fresh cases were reported for past 25 days.

"But we are taking extra measures by erecting additional barricading to control the spread of virus. After the inspection along with Nampally MLA we decided and gave permission to the market and merchants to run their business 'on relaxation hours', with odd-even numbering and GHMC workers started numbering the shops on Thursday," said official.

Official also said that the market is now opened and the lines connecting other areas are still barricaded to control the movement of people in area. "The areas Asif Nagar, Dhoolpet and Jiyaguda are listed for positive cases and which are close to Mallepally. Keeping control of spread the Mallepally area including Bazarghat, Asif Nagar, Vijay Nagar Colony are still barricaded," official added.

According to the shop owners, the Mallepally is still barricaded and they were not allowed to run business even though no positive cases were reported. "We requested the MLA to facilitate reopening of businesses. He visited the area along with officials and permission was given to open shops while maintaining government norms," said Quadeer Farooqi of Himachal Book Depot.