Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry, yesterday identified West Bengal (along with Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Bihar) as a state that is showing an increasing trend in daily COVID-19 cases. And on that day itself, West Bengal crossed the threshold of 18 thousand cases of daily infected for the first time. The exact figure was 18,102. The number of death was also over 100. The scenario is grim in the state where during the first wave the number of daily infected never touched the threshold of 6 thousand.
With it, semi-lockdown type restrictions have been imposed in Bengal. Restrictions announced by Mamata Banerjee, the third time Chief Minister, included suspension of local trains from today. State govt offices will run with 50% attendance. Shopping complexes, gyms, cinema halls, beauty parlours have been closed, and social/political gathering prohibited. Travellers to the state coming by air routes or inter-state buses are required to present negative RT-PCR test reports not older than 72 hours on arrival from tomorrow. Otherwise, they will be quarantined for two weeks. The markets are open only from 7 to 10 AM and 5 to 7 PM.
After 10 in the morning, Kolkata and its suburbs are once again assuming the look of a deserted place. The only difference with last year’s lockdown days is that some buses and cars are plying on the road. However, some restrictions often turn counterproductive. The scenes from Baruipur or Barasat, respectively far-away suburbs of Kolkata in south and north, shows people thronging to get on the buses. The reason is simple. With local train stopped and number of buses cut by half, the commuters have no other option than crowding the buses available.
Due to curbs on various economic activities, the economy or the employment situation is going to take a hit once more in Bengal, a state shunned by the big industries. It will emerge as a big challenge for the new government along with COVID-19 and law and order situation. To face the challenge, Mamata Banerjee has requested Amit Mitra, who had not fought the election this time due to bad health, to take charge of the finance department once again. Indications are that Mitra may agree.
(The author Diptendra Raychaudhuri is a senior journalist based in Kolkata. He has a wide range of experience in covering West Bengal politics and has authored several books)