The Union Home Ministry, on Wednesday, May 6, highlighted the coronavirus lockdown violations in West Bengal.
The ministry said that people found playing cricket and football points to the laxity in the state government’s supervision of the lockdown guidelines in Kolkata and Howrah.
The Ministry’s comments were reportedly based on the feedback presented to them by the Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) which were deputed to Kolkata and Jalpaiguri districts.
The teams have been in the state, on the task, since April 20.
While pointing out that testing carried out in the state in proportion to the state’s population, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said that mortality rate at 13.2 per cent in Bengal was the highest in the country for any state.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said that the mortality rate stood at 13.2 per cent in Bengal which was the highest in the country among the states. Additionally, the team said that such high rate indicates poor surveillance, detection and testing in the state.
In a two-page letter to West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, Bhalla said stricter enforcement of lockdown was the need of the hour.
The letter also hinted at providing safety to the healthcare professionals and lack of quarantine facilities in the state.
‘Instances of overcrowding in bazaars with poor sanitation, free movement of people in large numbers without masks, bathing of people in rivers, people playing cricket and football, serious laxity in enforcing lockdown measures in containment zones are a grave violation of lockdown and social distancing norms. This shows poor supervision of the district authorities,’ read the letter.
‘The IMCT also noticed violations of lockdown in Kolkata and in Howrah districts and attacks on ‘çorona warriors’ including policemen demands stricter enforcement. The problems faced by health care professionals and their ostracism are also worrying,’ it added.
Bhalla also reminded the state government that failing to take action to facilitate the immediate resumption of goods movement will be considered a violation of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 as well as Article 253, 256, and 257 of the Indian Constitution.
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