BBMP Officials Seal Apartment Doors with Metal Sheets in Bengaluru

The barricade was later removed after outrage from residents.

The incident took place in East Bengaluru’s Domlur.

(Photo: Twitter/@satishs)

Residents of a Bengaluru apartment were in for a shock when they found metal sheets blocking their flat’s doors on Thursday, 23 July. The flat was marked as a quarantine by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The method was called out by the residents.

The incident took place in East Bengaluru’s Domlur. Since the metal sheets covered most of the door, there was no space for the residents to exit the flat in case of an emergency.

“BBMP sealing done in our building for a confirmed Covid case. Lady with 2 small children, next door neighbours are an aged couple. What if there is a fire, @BBMPCOMM? Understand the need for containment, but this is an extremely dangerous fire hazard - please address urgently (sic),” wrote one of the residents of the apartment.

“Apart from the fire hazard, it also makes it difficult for the Emergency response team set up within the apt to support the families on groceries, etc. They are bulk ordering to minimise delivery contact, this makes it impossible to pass on big packages of essentials (sic),” he added.

“I Was Shocked,” Says Resident

Poorna Bhasin, a resident of the apartment, said that she was informed by the resident welfare association that her floor will be sealed. “I thought they will be putting up some tapes and I closed the door when they started the work. But when I opened the doors, I found that most of my door was covered with metal sheets. I was shocked,” she said.

She added that apart from her house, the doors of her elderly neighbours too were locked in a similar manner. “Only after I informed my neighbours and one of them tweeted about it, the barricade was removed (on Thursday evening),” she said.

Following the incident, BBMP commissioner Manjunath Prasad told media that action will be taken against the concerned officials.