BERHAMPUR: Even as Odisha reels under the second Covid-19 wave, public complacency has raised fears of a spike in positive cases in Ganjam district. Despite repeated appeals, locals are turning up in hordes to participate in festivals without paying heed to the safety guidelines. Market places too are witnessing huge crowds.
Turning a blind eye to blatant violation, the administration has failed to control the crowd assembling for ongoing festivals like Budhi Thakurani Yatra and Danda Nacha. The district administration has limited public gatherings at ‘Danda Nacha’ to a maximum of 25 persons. However, hundreds of people are congregating at the festival. Similarly, Bada Bazaar area, the temporary abode of Budhi Thakurani, also remains crowded.
On Sunday, the weekly haat at Kanisi was teeming with people in absence of enforcement authorities. Customers and even the shopkeepers were found without masks while the social distancing norm was violated brazenly. Meanwhile, Ganjam Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange issued an order restricting public entry to government offices till April 30. In case of emergency, people may contact the heads of respective offices over phone, message or email. He also asked officials not to hold meetings in person unless urgent or necessary and stressed virtual mode of communication.
On the day, Mohana tehsildar Kalyani Sanghamitra Devi sealed an eatery at Luhagudi chowk and slapped Rs 14,000 fine for violating the guidelines. Similarly, Section 144 was imposed in Jajpur village under Gosani block anticipating huge crowd for the ongoing Thakurani Yatra.
The district reported 31 positive cases in the last 24 hours. Of the fresh cases, eight were detected in Berhampur. The city has so far reported 4,279 Covid cases of which 4,144 have recovered and 52 are active. As many as 11,511 persons received the Covid vaccines at various immunisation centres across the district on the day. So far, 3,69,101 persons have been vaccinated in Ganjam.