With the second wave of the deadly pandemic, Covid cases have increased tremendously in recent days. A sizeable number of innocent human lives have been lost. Many people have been confronted with great sufferings, especially at the hospitals due to lack of proper facilities. As a preventive measure, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant imposed a 3-day lockdown in the state. However even during this period, people were noticed moving around in public places without a face mask. In villages, it was the duty of the village panchayats to see to it that the local population obeyed SOP guidelines. Some of the MLAs and ministers in the state have been demanding further extension of the lockdown. But strict adherence of SOP guidelines would have gone a long way in bringing the existing situation under control. The state administration needs to consider this aspect seriously and issue necessary instructions to the respective municipalities, village panchayats and other authorities to implement the SOP guidelines seriously. Let us hope that better sense prevails in this matter.
