Restrictions only for 7 days initially -Message from CM: No need to panic -Mamata expresses displeasure with South 24-Parganas administration for drawing up a list with 'too many' containment zones

Mamata Banerjee during a news conference at Nabanna on Wednesday PTI

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya   |   TT   |  Calcutta   |   09.07.20  : Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has sought to assuage concerns over the stricter lockdown in Covid containment zones from Thursday 5pm by clarifying that the restrictions would be in place only for seven days initially.

“Seven days, as of now. Just seven. After which, if there is nothing else, it will be relaxed slightly. Wherever there is increase, they will see,” the chief minister said on Wednesday after presiding over a meeting with top officials that was telecast live.

“See, such a small list for Calcutta, just see (holding up the list)…. Just a handful of streets,” Mamata said. “Because if this is not done, it (the pandemic) will not decrease.”

The chief minister appeared to be stressing the following points:

⚫ There is no reason to panic. Since the Covid cases are rising, there is no room for laxity.

⚫ This is not a blanket lockdown but targeted restriction aimed at places that need them the most. The containment zones are not numerous.

As of Wednesday, Calcutta had 25 containment zones, Howrah 56 and North 24-Parganas 94. The chief minister did not agree with the list drawn up by the South 24-Parganas administration.

⚫ Unlike the administrative machinery, the political leadership has to find a way to enable means of livelihood to co-exist with measures to save lives.

Mamata had decided to again place herself publicly at the forefront of the Covid fight after she received feedback that Tuesday’s administrative letter ordering a complete lockdown in the containment zones from 5pm on Thursday had spread panic in some places, sources said. That the order did not spell out when the complete lockdown might end also aggravated the concerns.

The chief minister underscored the need to strike a balance by referring to the need to wear masks in public and raising the subject of how to deal with violators.

“I can slap a fine but does it look good?” she asked. “Someone who does not have the capacity to buy food, will I take Rs 2,000 from that person? Will it solve the problem? No.”

Mamata appealed to everyone to wear a mask. She asked police to send home anyone who refused to wear a mask and to not allow the person to step out until he or she relented.

She expressed displeasure on live television with the South 24-Parganas administration for drawing up a list with “too many” containment zones.

“Too many, too much…. Who made this? I know the places thoroughly. Did I say anything about (the list for) Calcutta? But this is excessive. The whole district is being brought to a stop. It will not happen,” Mamata said. “I do not agree with this.”

Chief secretary Rajiva Sinha said he would conduct a review.

The chief minister cited the example of her own neighbourhood to suggest that a properly implemented lockdown could yield results.

“In my own neighbourhood, when Toma (Trinamul Congress treasurer and MLA Tamonash Ghosh, who succumbed to Covid-19 last month) got it, his friends and family, others there, some 30-odd people got infected in the area,” she said.

“They did the lockdown there properly. In 25 days, not one. My neighbourhood is a poor neighbourhood…. Done properly, it yields results.”

Mamata, whose party is facing a backlash in some Amphan-affected districts following allegations of irregularities in relief distribution, suggested that her opponents were “playing political games”.

“The real facts must be known to all. There are only a few small containment areas where it (a stricter lockdown) is being done,” she added.