Crowds throng Chickpet, violating social distancing norm

Originally tweeted by womanjari (@ManjariR) on November 10, 2020.

By Chandrima Mazumdar

Amid the ongoing pandemic, a video showing the crowded Chickpet area in Majestic has gone viral. The 26-second clip shows the crowded street with people violating the social distancing rules. While most were seen wearing masks, some people did not wear their masks properly, which could threaten people in close proximity to them. 

Why are people flocking to Chickpet?

One of the oldest shopping districts in the city, Chickpet is known for its wide variety of goods available at budget prices. With Diwali around the corner, the place has become a hotspot for shopping. However, with the pandemic still raging, Bengaluru has more than 18 thousand active COVID-19 cases. Under the circumstances, the apparent carelessness of the people has perturbed netizens. Media educationalist Vijay commented that the shoppers are putting not only themselves, but also their family and friends at risk.

Previously, even after the official lockdown had ended, Chickpet had gone on a self-imposed lockdown for one week in June. Associations like the Electrical Merchants’ Association and Jewellers’ Association of Bangalore (JAB) had voluntarily closed their businesses for a week due to the rising number of cases. However, even then, not all the shop owners were on board, citing the problems of disrupting business and incurring losses. The festive season is no exception and Chickpet is open to business, social distancing be damned.  

Guidelines by the Karnataka government

On October 6, just ahead of the festive season, the Karnataka government had issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent further spread of the virus. One of the prime requirements is for individuals to maintain a distance of six feet from each other in public and wear masks covering their mouth and nose at all times. However, as seen in the video, some are not wearing masks properly and everyone is flouting the physical distancing norm.

Quarantine fatigue

Netizens are expressing their discontent on the lack of measures taken by the government to enforce these rules. Thimma commented that it “looks like coronavirus is selective” with a video claiming that four people eating street food were fined Rs 250 rupees for “public nuisance”. Experts say that one of the reasons pushing people out of their homes even during the  pandemic can be quarantine fatigue.