In the wake of the Diwali festival, shopping for clothes, decorative items for homes, buying sweets, and food items is a common thing but this year due to the pandemic the situation is very different. For the last two days, media have been showing how the people of the city have been disrespecting the COVID guidelines at the city’s main Sitabuldi Market and just inviting trouble for them and their families.
But maybe they got a wake-up call from the reports and the photographs available and decided to stay indoors. The crowds in the streets of the city were much less today. There is a significant decrease in the number of people visiting markets. The NGO’s have been pushing for a cracker ban, no public gatherings or pujas like every year this time.
People know that cases coming down in the city is nothing to celebrate but instead something to be more careful and cautious about. But still a lot more needs to be done, people need to be more careful and should take all the necessary precautions as if not taken seriously the city may witness a second wave of COVID cases.
The Municipal Commissioner Radhakrishnan B in a meeting with officials has also warned of imposing a lockdown in markets in some areas of the city. He also said that NMC has warned the shopkeepers and hawkers that if they do not maintain physical distancing, fines of Rs 3,000, Rs 5,000, and Rs 8,000 will be imposed.
