ROURKELA; Residents of Rourkela city seem to have learnt no lessons despite facing the worst of the deadly second Covid wave. Taking the easing of lockdown restrictions for granted, people have started thronging marketplaces in large numbers throwing caution to the wind.
With the second wave showing signs of relenting in Sundargarh, the government announced relaxation of lockdown restrictions in the district on May 31. The four-hour window of shopping for essential commodities was increased to six hours. Following the relaxation of curbs, the Steel City is witnessing a mad rush at busy marketplaces which has triggered fresh fears of resurgence of the virus.
City resident Ashok Pradhan said vegetable vendors sit within touching distance forcing buyers to compromise with physical distancing norm. A sizable number of vendors hang masks below their nose or chins. Relocation of vegetable vendors along the ring road near Traffic Gate market, Telephone Bhawan, Sector-13 and Sector-20 grounds has failed to serve the purpose.
The most crowded is the business point between Mangal Bhawan and Nala Road portion which houses a majority of the wholesale and retail business houses including grocery, fruits, egg, fish and other essential commodities. This area continues to witness huge crowds during the lockdown relaxation hours.
Cracking down on violators, Rourkela police in the last 24 hours till Friday morning sealed seven shops in Plant Site and Uditnagar areas. A fine of `64,700 was also collected from violators not wearing masks.
There was a spike in Covid infections in Sundargarh from April 9 and till 30 during which the district reported 11,191 positive cases.
In May, the cases more than doubled to 26,320. In these two months, the official death toll was 105 but unofficially, the number is much higher. Before May 8, Rourkela was accounting for 60-80 per cent of the total cases being detected in Sundargarh.
Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) Commissioner Dibyajyoti Parida said, the administration is alert and strictly enforcing Covid-19 guidelines. Testing facilities have been readied near large wholesale markets while awareness and enforcement are continuing, he asserted. Meanwhile, the district reported 270 new Covid cases on Friday. The fresh cases include 50 from Rourkela. Sundargarh now has 3,468 active cases.
Covid victim doc’s kin get compensation
Rourkela: Nearly eight months after post-graduate medical student Priyashri (29) died of Covid-19, his family finally received the insured compensation of `50 lakh on Thursday due to the efforts of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). Priyashri was posted at the Covid ward of the RSP-run Ispat General Hospital (IGH). She succumbed to the virus on October 16, 2020 at JP Hospital. The compensation amount has been transferred to the bank account of the family. A native of Nalanda district in Bihar, Priyashri was pursuing Diplomate of National Board at the IGH.