Telangana’s Creepy-Crawly Rate Of Covid Hospitalisations During Third Wave urgenyly need the strict restrictions to curb.
At a time when the Covid-19 third wave has already begun, it goes without saying that people need to act responsibly. But Telangana appears to have different yardsticks.
In a blatant violation of safety norms amid community transmission of Covid-19, people continue to come out in public places without wearing masks. With the onset of the Sankranti holiday season, Rythu Bazaars, markets and shopping zones are attracting thousands of people.
With the huge rush of people at markets during busy hours, there is no scope for maintenance of social distance as the lanes at Rythu Bazaars are too narrow.
Interestingly, a majority of vegetable vendors at the Mehdipatnam Rythu Bazaar either do not wear a mask or wear it improperly. Chandan, one of a few vendors at the market who were wearing masks, said he was urging all customers who arrived at his stall to wear masks.
Same is the case at the busy Badi Chowdi and Sultan Bazaar shopping streets where most vendors do not wear masks. Even if they do, the mask hardly covers the nose and mouth. “I chew gutkha while conducting business. How do I consume it while wearing a mask?” questioned a crockery vendor when asked why he was not wearing a mask.
On the other hand, at a time when the Covid-19 third wave has already begun, it goes without saying that people need to act responsibly. But Telangana appears to have different yardsticks. The other day, police in Karimnagar disrupted BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s jagaran deeksha against a GO on transfers of government employees and teachers.
The police dismantled tents, broke open doors, used water cannons and lathicharged the crowd—all in the name of preventing Covid—but ironically ended up creating a situation for the virus to thrive. National BJP chief J P Nadda and other leaders raked Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao over the coals for the “inhuman and barbaric” police action.
To be fair, the BJP ought to have sought police permission for the deeksha but did not. Not that the TRS government would have allowed the BJP’s political deekshas, given the fierce turf war between the two parties, but not seeking permission left the BJP defenceless. A few days later, the police prevented Nadda from taking out a rally in Hyderabad, again citing Covid.
While the urgency to enforce Covid restrictions in Hyderabad is indeed admirable, how does one explain IT minister K T Rama Rao’s huge public meeting in Nalgonda recently where pandemic protocols were completely ignored?
Surely the virus is non-partisan. It cannot be that a TRS public meeting is virus-proof while BJP or Congress mobilisations carry the risk of turning into superspreaders. Recently the police kept TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy under house arrest when he was about to leave to take part in the party’s rachabanda programme.
By obstructing activities of the opposition BJP and Congress alone citing Covid as an excuse, the TRS could also end up losing goodwill, apart from exposing the state to a heightened coronavirus risk. Is expecting a level playing field too much to ask? #KhabarLive #hydnews
