KASARAGOD: At 9.45 am on Sunday, Abdul Rahman of Melparamba left his house for Kasaragod town, five km away. On any normal day, he takes just 7 minutes to reach the town. But on Sunday, he hit a traffic holdup at Chemnad, 2.5km from Kasaragod. "I thought there might have been a big accident," he said.
After one hour and 50 minutes, he reached Chandragiri bridge just outside the town and what he saw baffled him. Police officers were stopping every vehicle and "creating awareness" on COVID and COVID protocol. "We have been listening to the chief minister for one year on TV. What new thing will the police have to tell us on a Sunday morning? They have no respect for our time," said Rahman, a
businessman.
Deputy Superintendent of Police for Kasaragod division P P Sadanandan said the police had set up similar barricades on both ends of six towns in Kasaragod district to tell people to mask up and avoid needless travel.
What the police did on Sunday was a mock-drill to implement the "Tughlaq" decision of District Disaster Management Authority -- headed by collector D Sajith Babu -- to make COVID negative certificate or certificate of vaccination (two doses) mandatory to enter Kasaragod, Kanhangad, Nileshwar, Cheruvathur, Kumbla and Uppala towns for April 24.
They had earlier planned to implement the decision from April 17 but delayed it by one week to give people time to stock up and mitigate the inconvenience. "We will have to implement the order because it is issued by the collector. But it is practically impossible and importantly, it will not be beneficial. We
have seen it last year," said a top police officer in the district.
Kasaragod MLA N A Nellikkunnu shot off a letter to chief secretary V P Joy calling the collector's decision "stupid" and asking if it has the backing of the government. The collector is imposing curfew-like measures without taking the representatives of the people, the business community, and the people into confidence, he wrote.
As of now, those above 45 years are given priority for vaccination. "Even for them, it is too early to get the two doses of vaccinations," he said.
K Ahamed Sharief, the district president of Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi, said the collector's decision has come at a time when traders were hoping to do some business during Ramzan. "After a crippling one year, we have stocked up for this season. But the collector dropped the bomb with zero consultation," he said.
Kasaragod has a population of 13 lakh and a large number of people depend on these six towns not just for hospital needs and shopping but also as transit points. "What is the logic of restricting entry to towns where there are smaller suburbs such as Manjeshwar, Melparamba, Poochakkad, Chengala, Chemnad,
Madhur, and Ajanur. Will COVID not spread at these places?" he said.
He said the Samithi will be meeting the district police chief and the collector on Monday and urge him to reconsider the decision.
Traders were also not happy with the 9 pm deadline to close shops. "When you extend the deadline, you are staggering the inflow of customers to the town which is ideal to avoid crowding. With a 9 pm deadline, expect a crowd from 7 pm to 9 pm," said Sharief. "With a 9 pm deadline is the government trying to say the virus has night blindness," he said.
'Harsh decision needed as situation grave'
Collector D Sajith Babu said tough decisions had to be taken as the situation is grim in Kasaragod.
He said the district has only four hospitals with 376 beds for COVID patients. Of them, 200 beds are occupied. The district also has only six ICU beds and has a shortage of health workers.
On Sunday, 622 persons tested positive, taking the total number of active cases to 4,064.
In such circumstances, we will have to take strict action, he said in a meeting of sectoral magistrates, who are officers tasked with implementing COVID protocol.