Essential service workers living in containment zones will have to ask police personnel deployed at the boundaries of those areas whether they can leave for work. It has been left to the discretion of the cops to decide whether they can do so, officers said on Thursday.

According to a list published on Wednesday, the Calcutta municipal area has 25 containment zones.

The general consensus among officials of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation was that doctors and other healthcare workers living in containment zones will be allowed to leave for work.

But there was no decision yet about people working in banks, oil and gas sector, telecom firms, power utilities and media companies. All of them were treated as emergency service providers during the nationwide lockdown.

“The general rule is not to allow anyone to leave a containment zone but we will decide on a case-by-case basis,” a Calcutta police officer said. “Since this is not a nationwide or statewide lockdown, there is no order on what to be done. The decisions will be taken by police personnel posted at the barricades marking the boundaries of containment zones.”

Police and ward coordinators in some places in Cal-cutta have created WhatsApp groups for residents of containment zones. The residents could place requests for essential items to be delivered to them on these groups.

Eight buildings on Chakraberia Road, part of Ward 70, fall in a containment zone. “A WhatsApp group has been created for residents of each building. The officer-in-charge of Bhowanipore police station and I are members of all the groups. The residents have been asked to place their requests for essential items on their respective groups by 8am. We will try to deliver them by 10am,” said Asim Bose, the coordinator of the ward.

In most containment zones, residents have been asked to call the local police station if they need any help. In Kasba’s Swinhoe Lane, some residents said they were waiting for more clarity.

“We are a little confused about how we will get groceries and vegetables. I hope clearer announcements would be made by tonight or tomorrow morning,” said a schoolteacher who lives in a containment zone.

In Ultadanga, too, residents have been asked to call the local police station for help.

Some people stocked up on essential supplies before the lockdown kicked in at 5pm on Thursday. Rajdeep Banerjee, an IT executive who lives on the fifth floor of a six-storey building on Chakraberia Road, said his family had procured essentials that would last them for several days.

The lockdown will be in force for at least seven days, after which the authorities will review the situation and decide whether it needs to be extended, officials in the civic body said.

In Salt Lake, too, WhatsApp groups with police officers and councillors as members have been created for residents of many containment zones. In FD block, the residents’ association has readied a group of around a dozen volunteers.

“The volunteers will ensure that residents get uninterrupted supply of essentials,” said Banibrata Banerjee, a resident of the block and also a councillor of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.

Within containment zones, residents of the buildings from where Covid cases have been reported have been asked not to step out. “These buildings are like containment units within a containment zone. The buildings have been completely sealed and residents asked not to step out. If they need anything, that will be supplied at the gate of each building,” said a police officer.

But residents of other buildings in a containment zone have to collect their essential supplies at the barricades put up at the boundary.

In some places, the police have asked housing complexes to choose volunteers from among themselves who could coordinate with cops. In Phoolbagan and Ultadanga, the police have announced the mobile numbers of officers in the respective police stations whom residents can contact for any urgent help.

Residents of Satyam Towers in Alipore, which is a containment zone and has been sealed, have been offered help by the local police. “Lockdown creates inconvenience. But we have to understand that it is for greater good. Officers of Alipore police station have told us to alert them if there is an emergency,” said Ghanshyam Pugalia, a resident of the building.

Another resident of the building has temporarily shifted to a Lake Town address to avoid being stuck inside the zone.