The M-east ward comprising Govandi and Mankhurd has emerged as an outlier during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite apparent brazen disregard for lockdown norms shown by countless residents in the area, the city’s most populous and slum-dominated ward has been reporting fewer cases than any other area in Mumbai. BMC officials have attributed the positive trend to rigorous contact tracing against all odds. Also, most cases here are from high-rises.

Most people here believe officials are only harassing the poor under the pretext of rules, said a local

Most of the markets and shops remain open all day, sometimes even in the presence of police, in Govandi and Mankhurd and people can be seen roaming about freely without masks. While 80 per cent of the population here lives in shanties in a maze of narrow lanes, most cases have been reported from high-rises.