Easing restrictions fraught with dangers

As the government has started opening banks and restoring key trade outlets in Kashmir, the huge crowds making bee lines outside bank branch in rural areas could intensify the fast spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though allowing banks to operate again is obviously an attempt to give people the opportunity to have cash in their hands for buying the essential commodities as otherwise food shortages could trigger a huge crisis during the lockdown period. Unfortunately the government has put goods like mobile phones, computers, and refrigerators in the list of essential commodities to allow such purchasing through e-commerce firms like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeals but the ban on such purchases from e-commerce platform should not have been lifted in very first phase of restoration of public activities. Obviously the challenge for government would be to prevent the assembly of huge crowds at the streets under the garb of visits to banks and enforce the new lockdown guidelines issued by the Home Ministry .Reopening of the economy, even in a phased manner, is fraught with Covid-19 transmission dangers.
While the undisputed fact is that the both the economy and as well as the working of the government has been badly hit by the intensifying COVID-Pandemic spread, the people have to prefer health safety over restoration of the routine process of public engagement keeping in view the potentiality of the deadly nature of COVID-19 pandemic and severely strained healthcare system across Kashmir as this is the only way to avert all possible dangers.
By all standards of understandabilities even a phased restoration of public activities could lead to resurgence of the virus if the new lockdown guidelines are not forcefully implemented by the civil and police authorities in the areas of their own jurisdiction across Kashmir. Finally both the people and the law enforcing authorities have to respond to the lockdown guidelines with wisdom but unfortunately the incidents of lockdown violations are on rise in some isolated pockets three north Kashmir districts from where most of the positive cases have been reported so for. The people have to show by their actions that they are disciplined enough to follow the social distancing and lockdown rules for the safety of their own lives. To ensure forceful implementation of lockdown and social distancing, the government will have to withdraw some of the relaxations it has ordered so for particularly those related to building roads and water lines in rural areas as the huge public engagement in the restoration of such activities could lead to brazen violation of the social distancing norms. While the undisputed fact is that the both the economy and as well as the working of the government has been badly hit by the intensifying COVID-Pandemic spread, the people have to prefer health safety over restoration of the routine process of public engagement keeping in view the potentiality of the deadly nature of COVID-19 pandemic and severely strained healthcare system across Kashmir as this is the only way to avert all possible dangers.