Saamana slams Centre for not shutting down suburban local train services earlier

The editorial also pointed to the crowds at Mumbai and Pune railway stations last week after the state government announced it was shutting down private businesses and establishments until March 31.

“People are running away to their native places outside the state and many have the stamp of ‘quarantine’ on their hands. Had the railway services been suspended, the initial number of four to five coronavirus patients would not have gone up to 74. The carelessness is there, not only among people, but in the administration as well,” it added.

But Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray spoke at least thrice during his briefings last week about how shutting down the Mumbai suburban services will be the last resort and people needed to voluntarily refrain from stepping out.

Last Friday, Thackeray had said, “It is easy to shut them down. But what will happen to those who are involved in providing essential services? So, as of now, we have decided not to shut down these two services.”

Railway officials said the first discussion on shutting down Mumbai’s train service took place on March 18 when Mumbai had eight COVID-19 patients. Railway officials claimed that while the state administration was focused on the need to lower traffic on the suburban system, it was not making the parallel effort to ensure that people stayed home.

“The state agreed on the need to run suburban trains to at least cater to those who provide essential services. It was images of labourers thronging long-distance train platforms that set alarm bells ringing at the Prime Minister’s Office,” a railway official said. A day later, the order to stop all suburban train services was issued.

State officials also said a sudden shutdown would have thrown the city out of gear and a graded and gradual closure had ensured that no large-scale panic or disruption occurred in Mumbai.

The editorial also said while people clapped and banged thaalis on Sunday evening, they should now stop going out of their homes. “If we don’t want to replicate what happened in Italy and Germany, then we need to show patriotism by staying indoors,” the editorial added.

It further said it will certainly create the issue of livelihood but the government will not let people die of hunger. “Until now, farmers going into fields and labourers going to factories were being considered as doing a service to the nation. Now, labourers staying home for sometime is considered a service to the nation,” it said.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the latter said, in a tweet, that people were not taking lockdown seriously and appealed to them to save themselves and their families and follow the government’s instructions.

“Our Prime Minister is concerned that people are still not taking the lockdown seriously. Dear Prime Minister, this was bound to happen when you transform the entire ambience of fear and concern into a mood of festivity. If the government is serious, then only will people take it seriously,” said Raut in a tweet.