Several northern and eastern States, in line with the progressive unlocking of restrictions put in place in late March, threw open malls, restaurants and religious places on Monday with adherence to norms prescribed by the Centre. While Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led from the front in Uttar Pradesh by conducting the prayers at the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur of which he is also the head priest, the response to the easing of restrictions was largely tepid across States with COVID-19 cases continuing on their steep ascent nationwide.
Several shopping malls in the cities of Rajasthan, including Jaipur, reopened on Monday, though there were very few customers. Most of the hotels and restaurants remained closed because of the stringent conditions of maintaining distance between tables. A long queue of shopkeepers and employees was visible outside Gower Tower mall in Jaipur, where they were thermal-screened at the entrance.
In Punjab’s Amritsar, the holiest Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple, and the popular Durgiana Hindu temple were opened for devotees with precautionary measures but most places of worship witnessed no rush. Outside containment zones, hotels and restaurants too reopened but only a few customers were seen.
In Haryana, apart from Gurugram and Faridabad districts, most religious places and shopping malls were reopened across the State. In Panchkula the Mata Mansa Devi temple, where online registration has been made mandatory for devotees, will reopen only on June 9.
Many major shrines, temples and mosques reopened in Uttar Pradesh. In Ayodhya, temples like the Hanuman Garhi and the makeshift Ram temple reopened but saw limited footfall amid tight vigilance arrangements and regular sanitation. Devotees were allowed to offer prayers five at a time but from a distance. Devotees also offered namaz at the Eidgah mosque in Lucknow. However, in many places like Mathura and Moradabad religious places deferred opening.
In Bihar, too, shopping malls, restaurants and religious places reopened after a gap of two months to fewer footfalls. “Only asymptomatic devotees are being allowed to enter the temple premises,” said a constable conducting thermal screening at the entrance gate of Patna’s Mahavir Mandir. However, the world famous Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya will be reopen on June 10.
In the Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal, restaurants in containment-free areas flung doors open, hotels were unbolted and billboards outside malls illuminated yet again for the first time after 83 days. But it was mostly regulars and students who were brave enough to step out for leisure.
In the city’s bustling economic enclave MP Nagar, the city’s biggest DB Mall is limping back to life with at least 50% of its outlets thrown open on Day 1. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the mall had witnessed 700-800 visitors, considerably less than 5,000 in the period every weekday before the pandemic struck. “For how long could you stay indoors? But this doesn’t mean you step out without caution and care,” said Sanjay Garg, marketing manager at a Bhopal-based firm, who was visiting the mall with family.
Life is slowing limping back to normalcy across Odisha with lifting of certain restrictions. But all religious places and shopping malls in the State will remain closed till June 30. As per an order issued on Sunday, hotels and restaurants have been permitted home delivery/takeaways and delivery of food by aggregators.
Buses back on roads
The Odisha State Road Transport Corporation resumed bus operations on 66 routes connecting 22 towns in the State on Monday. The city bus service in Bhubaneswar had already resumed. Two-day shutdowns on weekends are being enforced till June end in 11 districts to contain the spread of novel coronavirus.
Places of worship across the Northeast had limited footfall after temples, mosques, churches and other religious institutions were allowed to open after more than 75 days. Some major temples such as Kamakhya in Guwahati remained shut.
In Tripura, some 300 people visited the popular Tripureshwari temple in Udaipur, about 64 km south of Agartala. “In normal times, 1,500-2,000 devotees and tourists visit the temple a day,” said Udaipur Sub-Divisional Magistrate Aniruddha Roy. Most other temples and mosques opened in Tripura but the churches did not.
“Catholic churches are awaiting proper guidelines and SOPs from the State government,” said Bishop Lumen Monterio of the Catholic Diocese in Tripura.
(With inputs from Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati)
