People crowd streets on Day 1 of unlock 1.0 in WB

| | Kolkata
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People crowd streets on Day 1 of unlock 1.0 in WB

Tuesday, 02 June 2020 | Saugar Sengupta | Kolkata

The City of Joy tended to miss a heart beat on Monday the first day of “unlock 1.0” even as things degenerated into a mega mix-up when citizens threw all cautions to the wind thronging public places and boarding packed up public buses—that ran far and few between —in mad desperation to reach their work places.

 While people spilled over to the streets thronging market places in thousands at the end of 67 days confinement, the enforcers of law were hardly to be seen around, sources complained.

 “We have been forced to come out of our houses taking great risk on our lives as we have been asked by our respected offices to join work. But here we have no adequate public transport because the large majority of public buses are not running because they have an issue with the Government with increased fare,” said Nalini Goswami and IT professional.

As the people tried to avail of the skeletal public transport whatever government buses were running got jam-packed with passengers, the more conscious people complained adding the policemen were nowhere to be seen to enforce the social distancing norms.

Monday saw a number of religious places opening up in Bengal with the exception of Kalighat, Dakshineshwar temples and Belur Math. While busy religious places like the three “Shakti Peeths” of Birbhum district, Thanthania Kali Temple and Lake Kali Temple in Kolkata opened up with limited visitors.

The Jute, mining and Tea industry to functioned normally after the Government allowed these sectors to function with 100 percent attendance.

The Bengal Government had extended lockdown on June 1, permitting total attendance in MSMEs, mining, jute and tea industries.

Expressing great concern over the way things were shaping up post lockdown Dr, Sumit Jana said “it seems that the people are preferring jahan (livelihood) to jaan (life). People don’t seem to understand that they are at great risk and the way the number of cases are going up we soon climb up the list of worst affected countries.”

Dr AK Nandi a virologist said, “the people will have to understand that they have been given a respite from lockdown because to remain afloat economically and not to go and party. If they do not understand it now then they will be in for a big trouble as the cases are going to rise in June and July in heaps and bounds.”

However, Amit Jana a daily commuter said “life is dear to everyone. We are not coming out to make fun. No one is gossiping around. The people are being forced to take up economic activities. The Government has to realize this and arrange for public transport in adequate numbers so that social distancing can be enforced. But here the bus operators and the government is involved in an ego fight over increase of fares.”

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