Opinion

By Rajeshree Nagarsekar

Time to act responsibly...

Even as concerned citizens of the State were bracing for more restrictions, the announcement of Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant, of opening grocery, milk and vegetable shops in Goa from Friday, with a further warning that nobody should blame the government if COVID19 spreads among the population -- has rattled many, with even leading medical practitioners taking to social media, urging the CM to rollback the order. Photos and videos of the scene on the ground on Friday, emerging on social media, show a clear contradiction of social distancing guidelines issued by the central government for the entire country in the 21 day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Modi a couple of days ago.

Considered to be the most severe step taken anywhere in the war against the Corona Virus, PM Modi announced that no one could leave home for 21 days, thus ordering 1.3 billion people of the country to stay inside their homes for three weeks. He further elaborated that every state, every district, every lane, every village will be under lockdown. Though critics say that the breadth and depth of such a challenge is staggering in a country where hundreds of millions of citizens are destitute and countless millions live in packed urban areas with poor sanitation and weak public health care – there is a looming fear that, should the virus hit as it has in the United States, Europe or China, the consequences would lead to a disaster far bigger than anywhere else. Still, many experts agree that putting India on lockdown, however harshly, is the country’s only hope to contain the virus.

In his prime-time national address announcing the lockdown on Tuesday night, PM Modi had assured the public that the government would maintain supplies of food and other essential daily supplies. Here in Goa too, CM Sawant said his government would ensure supplies of food and other essential daily supplies to people through home delivery service, but majorly failed to keep up with the promise, and therefore had to relent to what he claimed to be “public pressure” due to which he reversed the decision of complete lockdown. On Friday, people were out, jostling with each other as they crowded into the grocery stores, thus throwing all cautions of social distancing to the winds. Long lines streaming outside stores with hundreds of people standing close together, are all over social media,  even as some stores stressed on keeping a meters distance from each other. The ground situation clearly indicates that bulk of the population hasn’t understood the severity of the problem. This situation surely lays bare the challenge of enforcing a strict set of virus containment measures in a state like Goa where people seem to have least social responsibility.

It goes without saying that the government alone would not be able to help limit the virus; all citizens must also act responsibly and take the outbreak seriously. Experts are of the opinion that the utmost requirement at the moment is self-discipline. With the threat of the rapidly spreading virus looming large over Goa, it is important to understand the depravity that could be if the spread is not limited in the initial days. Giving examples of Italy, to map how rapidly the virus can spread, their only advice is to impose self-restrictions at an early stage, and not wait for the disaster to strike.

To my mind, to contain the spread of the contagion at least to some extent, if not all, we will need to learn from a few countries including New Zealand which has gone into a state of complete lockdown, the same day as India announced the 21 days lockdown. According to a report, there the hands of the authorities have been strengthened with new powers to make sure people obey the rules. The four week lockdown in NZ with only essential services like supermarkets and pharmacies remaining open, the police and medical officials, as per reports, have already started using legal powers under the existing laws to fine people who flout the lockdown rules amid Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s notice to declare a state of emergency and issue an epidemic notice.

Domestically, there are several inspirational stories emerging from various villages across the country, like the three villages in Ranchi where people have taken it upon themselves to fight the pandemic. In these villages, villagers have erected barricades to prevent any movement across their borders. Village youth are seen patrolling in groups and are neither allowing anybody in nor permitting anybody to go out thus ensuring they stay in complete lockdown despite the adverse situation.

Authorities should act in a pre-emptive way in response to a clear threat that comes with uncertainty, say experts, suggesting that a state of emergency can be declared, which is used in situations of such a magnitude where high-level response is required, involving both national and local governments, emergency services and lifeline utilities.

At a time when the government is bracing for the virus to spread, after  thousands of Goans have returned from overseas and widespread reports are emerging of the refusal of these NRIs to self-quarantine themselves -- there is distress everywhere, while the government machinery has failed to control the situation. Even as active cases of the contagion have started surfacing in Goa, the government will now need to act fast.