On 1st unlocked Sunday, public places packed

RULES DON’T APPLY

On 1st unlocked Sunday, public places packed

Social Distancing And Wearing Of Masks A Casualty As Residents Visit Markets, Recreation Spots In City, On Outskirts

Srikkanth.D@timesgroup.com

07.09.2020

The city’s meat, fish and vegetable markets, where ensuring physical distancing was tough even earlier, were packed on the first lockdown-free Sunday. The additions were playgrounds and beaches.

Somasundaram ground in T Nagar and the Gopalapuram ground were mainly filled with young people, almost all of them without masks in spite of warnings from the corporation and police. Pictures of crowded playgrounds shocked users of social media, particularly Twitter.

Many said they had missed physical activity for a long time. “Sunday cricket used to be our only physical activity. Due to lockdown, we missed it a lot. As norms have been relaxed, we played match at an unused plot in our neighbourhood,” said S Vignesh, a college student from Adambakkam.

Places of worship like temples and churches were also full. At St Patrick’s church near Alandur, Sunday service was attended enthusiastically. Separate entry and exit ways were created and people were let in only after their temperatures were checked. Around 100 people were allowed into the prayer hall at a time, with only two people permitted to sit on a bench meant for 10.

Traffic was like a normal Sunday in most parts, but in a few areas such as Loop Road near the Marina, it was slow moving. “We have been appealing to the public not to be complacent and follow physical distancing and wear masks like all these days. We are aware of the challenges and we hope to streamline them in the coming days,” said a corporation official.

At the Marina, the crowd began to swell in the evening and soon became uncontrollable, forcing police to deploy more personnel. “We were stopping them from venturing into the sea. We used a public address system so that out messages were audible,” said a senior officer.

Only a few of the beach-goers were seen wearing masks, while others removed it saying they had come to get some fresh air. Most were seen pleading with police to let them get wet in the water, as they had remained indoors for more than six months.

On the other hand, traffic policemen said, a majority of the motorists whom they saw had their masks on. “Being a Sunday, there was no traffic pile-up on any of the major roads including arterial stretches like Anna Salai, Nungambakkam High Road and Poonamallee High Road. Most roads had two policemen posted at all signals,” said a senior traffic police officer.

MAKING THE MOST OF IT: From the backwaters in Muttukadu (top) to the playing fields in T Nagar to St Patrick’s Church in Alandur — all were crowded with visitors