Assam’s green zone areas woke up on Monday to a “comparatively” busy day with business activities and public transport resuming on a small scale after Dispur decided to ease lockdown restrictions in these areas to kickstart the economy.
In the capital city, it was almost like a regular day till the evening with both public and private vehicles plying on the roads and also creating traffic snarls.
Shopkeepers, traders, commuters, daily wagers, professionals, vendors and those without any reason, in their enthusiasm to get their lives back on track, stepped out of their homes, many of them without masks and disobeying social distancing norms.
Similar scenes were witnessed in Jorhat, Nagaon, Dibrugarh and other places and television cameras captured disturbing visuals of guidelines being violated, sparking concern over easing of restrictions.
“The past month has been very tough on everyone. It will take a couple of days for people to adjust to life in corona times,” said Ram Kumar Choudhury, a resident of Jorhat.
Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had to reiterate on Monday, “People must not think that easing of the lockdown means that the fear of the virus is over. Everyone must obey the social distancing norm and wear masks when out.”
The state government had on Sunday withdrawn several lockdown restrictions in 29 of the 33 districts between 6am and 6pm.
However, in four hotspot districts — Dhubri, Goalpara, Morigaon and Bongaigaon — there was no easing of restrictions.
The state has not recorded any fresh Covid case since April 30. So far 42 persons have tested positive, of whom one died.
Commuters here complained of shortage of buses. “Everyone was trying to get into buses, flouting social distancing norms,” a commuter said.
The Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) had provided nearly 100 city buses with 50 per cent seating capacity but later its managing director Anand Prakash Tiwari said, “ASTC is adding 200 more city buses. Conditions will remain the same — 50 per cent of the seats will be used with social distancing and no standing journey of passengers. Mask and gloves are mandatory.”
App-based cab services were back on the road but they were charging more than normal rates.
Around 5pm, the district administration announced the 6pm curfew deadline at key business centres here over the public address system so that people could return home by 6pm. Failure to do so would attract strict action.
Shopkeepers used the opportunity to clean their establishments as one-third shops will be allowed to open on a rotation basis from Tuesday.
Daily wagers were also out looking for work. “I have not earned a single penny this past month. It’s becoming very difficult for my family to survive. Though I came out in the morning looking for work, I’m yet to get one,” said Imdadul Ali, a daily wager.
The state government has directed divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and sub-divisional officers (civil) to scrupulously follow the new guidelines of the ministry of home affairs issued on May 1 and its own directions issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority on May 3 to carry out the functions of prescribed activities within their jurisdiction, considering the ground situation and requirements.
With additional reporting by our special correspondent in Guwahati
