TURA: A six hours curfew relaxation window provided on Thursday to the citizens of Garo Hills to purchase essential commodities during the ongoing lockdown saw people throw caution to the winds as crowds thronged markets to stock up on milk, rations and medicines breaking the social distancing guidelines aimed at preventing possible spread of infection from coronavirus (COVID-19).
Shocked by the brazen disregard for social distancing to avoid any possible contamination, the West Garo Hills District Administration has decided to stop all such relaxations during the ongoing curfew and lockdown until further notice.
“We are going to chalk out supply chain strategies and orders will be issued regarding guidelines for distribution of groceries,” West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh told The Shillong Times on Thursday, shortly after curfew was re-imposed in the district from 1 pm.
The administration is mooting the idea of providing home delivery of essential food items through volunteers and selected groups in each locality of Tura to avoid a recurrence of what took place on Thursday.
The highest number of violations were witnessed in Tura town as several thousand people and an equal number of vehicles snaked through the streets to their destination, Tura main market, destroying the very purpose of social distancing.
“It was chock-a-block across Tura with people brushing against each other as they jostled for food items pushing their way inside shops. No one was thinking about social distancing and everyone disregarded preventive measures against the virus. It was scary,” recalled several concerned citizens who got caught in the crowd during their shopping at the Tura market.
A similar scene, though smaller in number, also occurred in Williamnagar town of East Garo Hills and Baghmara districts, compelling the district administration to put in place strict guidelines.
“Markets had been shut for the last few days and when relaxation was given today (Thursday), people thought it would be only for one day so there was a rush mainly in Williamnagar town. But we deployed police, volunteers, scouts and guides personnel and got it streamlined,” informed Swapnil Tembe, Deputy Commissioner of East Garo Hills.
In North Garo Hills, there was initial crowding in market places such as Resubelpara and Mendipather over fears about shortage of essential commodities.
“At a few places there was some crowding but we rushed our teams and urged people to maintain discipline and social distance. Our administration along with shopkeepers had also put in place marked circles or lines to maintain distance from one person to another,” informed Deputy Commissioner SC Sadhu from Resubelpara. He said that in Kharkutta area, there was a shortage of some essential items but this was replenished by importing from nearby Assam towns of Darranggre and Dudhnoi.
In Baghmara, overcrowding prompted authorities to limit movement into the main market and divert traffic towards another open market in the vicinity of Bong Laskar Park.
The district administration in South West Garo Hills, in the meantime, also decided to decentralise the distribution system of essential commodities, informed Deputy Commissioner Ram Krishna Chitturi from Ampati.