With elections around the corner, rallies and meetings are being held daily, drawing crowds in shows of strength. Many stepped out on Holi too, to play, pray and attend cultural programmes. An alarming number of these people, however, were seen to move about without wearing masks or maintaining distance.
Parallelly, Covid cases are on the rise again. After a declining trend of a few months, Sunday saw 52 new cases from the 41 wards under the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, Monday saw 62 and Tuesday another 57. In comparison, on January 8, the number of cases had dropped to 14. Neighbouring New Town has 94 active cases, as on Wednesday.
The Telegraph Salt Lake attended some rallies and Holi programmes — that experts fear may prove to be super spreaders — to see how far participants followed Covid protocol.
Sabyasachi Dutta on way to the Administrative Building to submit nominations Mayukh Sengupta
Birds of same feather
The promises made by Trinamul Congress, BJP or even the Left-Congress alliance may be poles apart but binding them was the universal practice of flouting Covid precautions. Most supporters are turning up sans masks or wearing them at the chin and social distancing is thrown out of the window.
To file his nomination for the 116 Bidhannagar constituency, Trinamul’s Sujit Bose headed towards the Administrative Building in DJ 4 on March 24 without a mask. Ditto for most in the sea of supporters escorting him.
Sujata Barui, a resident of Lake Town who was part of the rally, said she was sure she would not get Covid and so eschewed the mask. “My husband and I have already had Covid once but we’re now cured. We can’t get it again,” she said, ignorant of cases of reinfection.
Moulik Chandra had come from Duttabad, a hotbed of Covid during the lockdown. “The virus has been eliminated. Things are back to normal now so why wear masks?” he asked.
Bose, who had been hospitalised with Covid last year, said that he wasn’t wearing a mask as he was leading the rally and speaking on the microphone. “It becomes difficult to speak with a mask on,” he said.
Later on the same day, BJP’s Sabyasachi Dutta went to file his nomination. Even though the Central Industrial Security Force personnel escorting him had their masks on, the candidate himself, his wife Indrani, his proposers and supporters went maskless.
“I am not afraid of the virus!” declared Dutta, when asked about it. “I will ensure my victory. Not even coronavirus can stop me,” he said.
Few wore masks among supporters of Tapas Chatterjee, the Trinamul candidate from Rajarhat-New Town and Bhaskar Roy, the BJP candidate for the same constituency, when they came to file their nominations.
People play with colours in BF Block. Debasmita Bhattacharjee
Officialspeak
A senior official of the Election Commission of India, who is in charge of handling nomination papers, said they had widely circulated notices about the necessity of wearing masks and following Covid protocols.
“All our officials are wearing masks. We had requested all political parties and candidates to do so too,”
A senior officer of the Bidhannagar Commissionerate said they had been posted to keep an eye on the law and order situation. “But that’s about it. It would be pointless asking people to wear masks in such large gatherings. No one would listen,” he said.
The Left Front-Congress coalition rally was the only one that had a significant percentage in masks. Mayukh Sengupta
Bright spot
The only exceptions were the supporters of the three candidates of the Left-Congress coalition. They arrived at the head of a single rally and unlike in the case of the Trinamul and BJP congregations, many had masks on, matching in colour with their red flags.
“We don’t want to risk our lives and those of others. We have asked everyone to wear masks,” said Subhasree Dasgupta, a civil engineer in the march. “But it’s true that many have taken them off due to the heat,” said Dasgupta.
Basab Basak, a resident of FE Block who was part of the rally, said they had used WhatsApp groups to ask people attending the nomination day rally to use masks and sanitisers.
Abhishek Banerjee, the CPM candidate from Bidhannagar, said he was wearing a mask on the whole but removing it to speak as his voice was getting muffled otherwise.
Kunal Pal, a newspaper vendor from Nagerbazar in the crowd, said the threat of Covid scared him but that this was a greater cause. “Even greater is the threat of a fascist party and a party which has done little for our ilk despite being in power for 10 years. This is why I had to be here even though I know that it is risky to be in a crowd,” said Pal, as others next to him nodded in agreement.
Show goes on
Rallies aren’t the only reason people are heading out. Several cultural events are being organised too.
The Basanta Utsav at FD Park on Sunday began with a minute of
silence in memory of Bashuli Sen, a singer with the performing group Khola Hawa, who had succumbed to Covid not so long back.
“It’s heart-breaking for us but we are keeping her in our memories,” said Bipasa Mitra, founder of the group and a resident of BD Block. “We know the Covid count is on the rise again but Sujitda (Bose) had requested us personally to do this show. It is on a much smaller scale, of course. We usually have over 30 singers and 150 dancers of various institutes performing simultaneously. This time many performers didn’t get permission from home to participate due.”
The event was attended by Bose, who smiled, spoke and clicked pictures with attendees, all without a mask. When asked about it, he simply said his people were following Covid norms.
Bose attended another spring festival in AE Block on Sunday where those like Arunima Dey Bhattacharya, a homeopath, had ensured she came to sing only after taking her vaccine. “People are getting depressed due to Covid but music is a great therapy for performers and listeners alike,” said the member of Bidhannagar Baitalik, a music group of residents of AE(Part 1).
Supriyo Chakrabortty, one of the organisers, said they had laid out 500 chairs for the function, but in an hour all had got occupied so they spread out 200 more. “The park has a capacity of 1,200 chairs but we won’t go overboard this year. We are also spacing the chairs out,” he said.
The star attraction for the night was singer Monomoy Bhattacharya, who was being requested for photographs by fans before he took stage. “While I’ve been craving a live audience, the threat of the second wave is looming over us. We cannot be casual about safety,” said Monomoy.
Suchandra Basu, an AE Block resident, was quite the star-struck fan clicking photos with him. “I became a senior citizen in January and am quite scared of Covid. I wouldn’t have ventured out to a crowded place like this if it wasn’t for my favourite singer,” she smiled.
At the FD Park event, organiser Pradip Sengupta said they laid out 300 chairs, which, though less than in pre-Covid times, was still a figure to reckon with. Many stood in the aisle watching and shooting videos. The star draw was dancer Kohinoor Sen Borat. “As a performer I love public appearances but we still have to exercise extreme caution,” he said.
Holika dahan in progress in FD Block on Sunday. Debasmita Bhattacharjee
Excuses galore
There have been a few Holika dahan and nera pora events last week too. “We are not letting more than 250 people enter the park at a time,” said Amit Poddar, a member of Salt Lake Sanskrit Sansad, that was hosting Holika dahan at CB Park. “The security guards have also been provided with a supply to hand out masks to those coming without one.”
The park was a picture of discipline at 6.30pm but in half an hour all the spare masks were exhausted and still several unmasked devotees were making their way in. Some ignored the zealous guards’ pleas to cover up and a few tried to dodge them. Most let the mask slip down after entering the venue.
Social distancing was difficult to maintain as guests started making rounds of the pyre or made their way for snacks. There was music too for the few seated at a distance.
“Our masks are in the car. I have had Covid in the past so I am not afraid any more,” said jeweller
Rajesh Karel of BC Block as he walked in with his family of five, all sans masks. “I am waiting for many more family members to join me. The celebrations are taking place in open air, so it’s safe.”
Nikita Dalmia of AD Block had dropped in with her children, both below two years of age. None of them was wearing a mask. “I may not be wearing masks but to make amends I am standing at a distance,” she said.
Homemaker Anju Dhanuka of BC Block said she forgot her mask in a rush. There were many more like her, a large number being women and children.
Footfall for the event crossed 2,000. “We have been holding this event for nearly 40 years and wanted the tradition to go on. Some people were careless but by and large, most followed rules,” said secretary Sanjay Agarwal.
A member of Salt Lake Sanskritik Sansad tries to douse the flames after Holika dahan at CB Park. Basudeb Behera
Balancing act
At the Holika dahan at FD Park, Shambhu Choudhary had come wearing two masks. “I’m trying to send a message to others who are not abiding by the norms,” said the senior citizen, pointing at a lady without a mask. “But it’s an uphill task. When the authorities placed restrictions on entering pandals during Durga puja last year, people hit the streets instead! We can’t expect much from such a public.”
Tanmoy Sikdar of EE Block watched the show at FD Park but had pulled his chair away to a safe distance. Shelly Mukherjee sat watching the AE Block show with a mask on but stepped away to an empty corner and took it off for a few minutes whenever she felt breathless.
“I have been missing my neighbours and wanted very much to meet them today,” Mukherjee said. “Covid is a threat but so is dengue and malaria. We don’t stop going out in fear of mosquitoes, do we?”
Those like Samir Kumar Das of AE Block confessed that they had become somewhat casual about the Covid situation. “I’m wearing the mask intermittently now,” he said, at the Monomoy show.
Caution to the wind
At the AE Park meet, a dozen youths were spotted chatting away to glory, all without masks. “We played Holi in the morning too, despite our parents discouraging us. Half of our friends didn’t turn up though,” said Subrata Mahato, a Class XII student, sporting pink stains on his face.
But it’s not young blood alone that is challenging protocol. Pradip Kundu, a 61-year-old CG Block resident, watched the AE Block cultural programme, his face free of mask or a trace of guilt or worry.
“If the experts were right about Covid, two-thirds of our population should have got wiped off by now. If the experts were right, why did positive cases increase despite the lockdown and decrease after it? If the experts were right, why are people getting Covid despite wearing masks?” asked Kundu. “The bottom line is that no one knows and I’m not listening to someone who doesn’t know. I’m not wearing a mask and suffocating myself.”
Future tense
Kusum Adhikary, the civic body’s medical officer, expressed concern at the situation and said that they were anticipating a further spike in Covid cases in the coming few weeks.
“With the impending elections, large gatherings are taking place. Most people are not wearing masks and this has become the general trend. People are not bothered about maintaining social distance and following Covid-appropriate behaviour when stepping out in crowded public places. We are apprehensive of a spike in the numbers of fresh cases,” said Adhikary.
