By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 8 May: Government spokesperson and cabinet minister Subodh Unial today indicated that the government was considering taking a major step in view of the on going surge of Corona pandemic in the state. Speaking with the media, Uniyal admitted that the Covid-19 infection had also reached the villages of Uttarakhand. He added that despite Covid Curfew in parts of Uttarakhand, it was a matter of concern that the pandemic was showing no signs of abating. Under these circumstances, the government was likely to take a major decision by 10 May (Monday). Meanwhile, all schools have been ordered closed for summer holidays in the state till 30 June. Orders to this respect were today issued by Secretary School Education R Meenakshi Sundaram. Though, Uniyal did not elaborate his statement, it is assumed that the government is mulling on a complete lockdown for a longer period with an objective to break the chain of Corona infection! Presently there is a partial lockdown in several parts of the state namely urban areas of eight municipal bodies including the Municipal Corporations of Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. This partial lockdown was termed as Covid Curfew and mini lockdown. However, this partial lockdown has failed to contain the spread of the infection and therefore a complete lockdown in Uttarakhand seems imminent. Earlier the better, assert the experts. It remains a mystery as to why the state has not imposed a complete lockdown despite the fact that Uttarakhand is currently among the worst hit states and Dehradun is one of the top 15 cities most affected by the pandemic with more than 4,000 fresh cases being detected now per day. In fact the UP Government has banned the entry of public transport entering UP from Uttarakhand. Now the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation buses would have to traverse through Himachal and Haryana to reach Delhi till the further orders.
What should be an issue of major concern is the fact that death rate in the current wave of the pandemic in Uttarakhand is staying well above the average death rate at the national level. The government does seem to be aware of this fact and today, while reviewing the Covid situation in the state, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat stressed on focussing more on controlling the death rate in the state.
It may be recalled that yesterday, Cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat had even suggested taking the help of the army in bringing the pandemic under control and suggested that the government speak with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in this regard.
Yesterday, the Higher Education Department had also issued orders regarding closure of all UG and PG Colleges and all government and private universities till 12 June and declare summer holidays
