‘Janata’ ignores ‘Curfew’ appeal on Day-2
| Date :21-Sep-2020 |
Staff Reporter ;
Sometimes, good intentions do not meet equally good response. This, precisely, happened in case of ‘Janata Curfew’ appeal on Sunday. Despite the best efforts and intentions of Sandip Joshi, Mayor, his appeal for observing ‘Janata Curfew’ on weekend met with popular indifference. On Day-1, that is, on Saturday, the Mayor’s appeal evoked a lukewarm response. Some shops remained closed, some were open. A good chunk of people responded positively to the appeal for ‘Janata Curfew’ as they felt that it was their duty to contribute towards the cause of containing the spread of COVID-19.
However, Sunday, the Day-2 of ‘Janata Curfew’ presented a very disappointing picture. Being Sunday, already many shops in the city were closed. Still, people preferred to visit whatever shops were open. May it be Kelibagh Road market in Mahal, or Chitnis Park road, or other parts of the city, people were seen moving on roads. Of course, some were out on job. However, many just enjoyed the Sunday. In some places, people even thronged roadside ‘paani-puri’ stalls. Tea-stalls attracted good crowd on Sunday, especially as it rained well during day-time. In fact, the number of people out on roads left one wondering if those who had stayed at home on Saturday also had decided to ignore the appeal on Sunday.
Given the experience of the first instalment of ‘Janata Curfew’, it remains a big question whether the appeal for next weekend -- September 26 and September 27 will evoke a good response to break the chain of spread of COVID-19. The Mayor had made the appeal for ‘Janata Curfew’ on September 19-20 and September 26-27, after various elected representatives and traders had demanded lockdown for a few days to check the spread of COVID-19. However, as lockdown was not a favoured option among the administrative authorities and the State Government due to economic costs and impact on livelihoods, the Mayor found a middle way and issued the appeal for self-discipline and ‘Janata Curfew’ on weekends. The appeal was aimed at breaking the spread of COVID-19 in city.
Already, the cumulative number of COVID-19 patients has crossed 50,000 mark in the city. For the past several days, barring a day or two, more than a thousand new patients are getting added to the tally. Besides, deaths continue to be a cause of deep concern. For, Nagpur district’s rate of death due to COVID-19 is 2.65 per cent, which is higher than the national average of 1.61 per cent. Further, recently, there has been much hue and cry among public over availability of hospital beds forcing Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to issue orders calling for converting some more private hospitals into Dedicated COVID Hospitals. Meanwhile, MLA Krishna Khopde issued a statement on Sunday and accused the State Government and administration for trying to foil ‘Janata Curfew’. He added that despite the efforts to foil it, people responded positively to ‘Janata Curfew’.