Hyderabad: With Chalta Hai attitude, citizens shun masks

Hyderabad: It is the lockdown norms which relaxed and not the virus, people must know that the only to keep away the virus is masks and social distancing! Such an unconcerned attitude of not wearing masks in public places, especially the always buzzling Lad Bazaar, Begum Bazaar and Sultan Bazaar is nothing but inviting the virus. Such ignorant citizens are not risking their own safety but also others, meanwhile the police officials are trying their best to enforce the restrictions and slapping a penalty of Rs 1000 on those not wearing face masks.

The strict lockdown implemented from May 12 were relaxed to 12-hour a day last week. As the government eased lockdown, the people took it for granted and made a mess of it. Despite the standard procedures such as wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing in place, a majority of people violated and ran berserk turning to shops, markets, malls, restaurants, etc.

Besides masks, other violations include spitting and consumption of tobacco in public places, violation of Covid-19 quarantine rules, not maintaining social distancing were seem to be common in people in the city. Probably the decreasing number of cases has been taken for granted by the citizens.

Among the violators maximum are aged between 18 and 40 years. "Even though people are fined Rs 1000 for violating the Covid-19 protocol, most of them were seen not wearing facemasks in public space. In the month of April and May the cases spiked and hardly for last one week, the government has increased relaxation hours, but the people must understand the about the spread of the deadly virus and should practice of wearing facemasks for their and others safety," said Abdul Rahman, a social activist.

Meanwhile, The Supreme Court has also said that people not wearing masks in public spaces are violating the fundamental right to life of everyone else. Shashikant, a sexagenarian said, "The young generation must observe the worst situation and they have to practice wearing face masks to save their elderly at home, as the majority of virus affected are aged people."

On several occasions, City Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar urged, "Corona is still there and is infecting many people. Please protect yourselves and your families by wearing face masks. We will register cases if you don't wear a mask in public places." He also uses social media to bring awareness among people to wear facemasks."

"We are monitoring and trying to identify people not wearing masks through our CCTV cameras installed. If we identify any person without wearing facemasks, we provide information to the police personnel in the area to ensure that person wears a mask. We request people not to step out from the houses without face masks. Moreover, the traffic police have also been asked by the State government to slap fines on motorists not wearing masks while driving," said a senior police officer.