A day after residents of a Greater Noida west township held a protest against the authority's decision to seal the entire society after three positive Covid-19 cases were reported from the housing complex, the district administration has redefined the containment zones for high-rises.

According to Uttar Pradesh government guidelines, any residential area with multiple cases will become a containment zone and will be sealed for a period of 21 days.

However, in a statement released by the office of the district magistrate Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj on Tuesday, the radius of the containment zone will now depend on the number of cases.

"In consultation with the state government, containment zones have been redefined for multi-storied buildings and societies in urban areas. If a single case is reported in a multi-storey society, only that particular tower will be sealed, and if more than one case is reported, the previous rule will be applicable according to which sealing radius will be 500 metre for containment and 250 metre for the buffer zone," the order said.

The order further stated that in case towers of the same society fall outside the 500 metre radius, they will not be considered as part of the containment zone.

Residents of various high-rises have welcomed the district administration's move.

"It is very difficult for high-rises that have thousands of people living in them to have them sealed. It's a question of their livelihood. People in hot spots cannot even get administrative passes. Not all societies have grocery shops within their premises, thus creating further problems," Abhishek Kumar, president, NEFOWA, a Greater Noida West association of high-rises, said.

The administration's decision comes 24 hours after residents of Supertech Ecovillage had held a protest on Monday evening when their society had been sealed.

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