mumbai an eerie silence has descended on worli koliwada the worsthit neighbourhood in g south civic ward which tourism minister aaditya thackeray represents in the state legislative assembly and which has been sealed off by the civic authorities following the covid19 pandemic a total of 144 new cases have been registered here in the last four daysnearly 129 patients who were quarantined in podar hospital were allowed to go home on wednesday this has fuelled hope among locals that the disease could be tamed by social distancing and medicines said sharad chinchankar chief of bjps south mumbai unitworli koliwada began to bleep alarmingly on the mumbai civic bodys radar after it registered 246 positive cases by april 11 the figure jumped up to 390 on april 15 sources saidthe area has been sealed off from one end of adarsh nagar to the sea shore in case citizens order essentials online they have to walk up to adarsh nagar to take delivery said a police officer on dutydensity of population and reluctance on the part of citizens to adhere to social distancing norms have made matters difficult for authorities he pointed out a quilt of tiny bastis with nameplates such as gonta nagar and janata nagar worli koliwada boasts of a sizeable population of kolis both hindus and christians and other ethnic groups the area is known for its spirit of communal harmony and joi de vivre holi and christmas revelries babasaheb worlikar one of mumbais eminent mayors belonged to worli koliwada many feel the severity of coronavirus has been contained to a good extent and the urgent need was to ensure steady supply of essentials nearly 600 to 700 families have been affected and residents are confined to their homes for a month authorities should set up three or four small centres to distribute foodgrains said dattu gavankar chief of the congress partys obc cell and party spokesperson as well there are three or four small maidans in worli koliwada which can be used as nodal points to distribute foodgrains people have been out of work for nearly five weeks their savings both food and currency are fast depleting bmc and the state administration should make immediate arrangements forsupply ofessentials gavankar saidthere should be better coordination between the administration ngos and political parties as all three are distributing food packets said a local often the packets dont reach the deserving he saidthere was a bit of good news on thursday as a 25yearold from the locality married a 27yearold inside his home with only a few kin attending and no fanfare in order to maintain social distancing norms