Danger unlocked: crowds throng markets, weddings

Danger unlocked: crowds throng markets, weddings

Covid Safety Precautions Ignored All Over State

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

07.09.2020

As the total lockdowns on Sundays were lifted after more than a month, people flocked meat shops and gathered for wedding ceremonies across the state on Sunday.

While there was brazen violation of social distancing norms and hundreds of people came out on the roads, many without even wearing masks in places like Madurai, there was mixed response to norms in other parts of the state. Though Sunday lockdowns were imposed in most part of the state only in August, for Madurai the weekly lockdown was imposed way back in June itself to control the Covid spread. So when the lockdown was lifted for Sunday, there were a slew of wedding ceremonies organised where people congregated in large numbers.

The very reason for deciding to conduct a wedding on a Sunday, is to ensure a large number of people participate, said Ganeshan, whose niece had got married with about 200 people attending the wedding in Madurai.

Thangaraj, who conducted his daughter’s wedding in Madurai, said he took great effort to keep the number of guests below the stipulated 50. He said that he had ensured guests kept moving without spending a lot of time in the wedding hall or the dining hall.

Many such marriages took place across Madurai, where a large number of people turned up for the functions, and many of them were seen without masks. “Wearing a mask while going to a wedding spoils my look so I carried my mask in my bag, to wear if somebody questioned me,” said K Jothi of Chinthamani. Officials said that the monitoring of marriage halls would be tightened in the coming weeks. Police had a tough time in Salem since scores of people on cars and two wheelers started coming towards Yercaud. They were stopped at the foothills and sent away. “Only Yercaud residents can travel to and from the hill town without an e-pass. But many from Salem had planned for a trip to Yercaud since it was a Sunday and there was no lockdown. We turned them down saying they need e-pass,” said a police officer.

In Coimbatore, there was a mixed response with some shops ensuring social distancing while others ignoring. However, except for meat and fish stalls, which had long queues, all other commercial establishments were closed in the city. Even shopping malls received very few footfalls despite the fact they were opened only few days back.

In Trichy, normalcy was restored to almost the pre-Covid levels with markets witnessing heavy crowd. Even though proactive measures such as ensuring strict social distancing norms were in place during the intense lockdown, such disease preventive measures completely vanished on Sunday. Trichy city corporation as on Sunday penalised only 40 people for not wearing masks, disproportionate to the violation committed.

INVITING TROUBLE: People gather in large numbers at meat and fish stalls at a market in Coimbatore on Sunday, without maintaining social distancing norms