Bhubaneswar: In its efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 virus in time and prepare the state mechanism to fight any unforeseen eventualities, the Government of Odisha declared Covid-19 as a disaster giving officials the much needed authority to manage the disease. Odisha declared the onset of the virulent disease well before a single case was reported on its soil. On March 13, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik declared in the State Assembly that the Cabinet has decided to declare the health crisis as a ‘disaster’ for the State under the Disaster Management Act 2005 and approved the COVID-19 Odisha Regulations, 2020, thereby adequately empowering the authorities to combat its spread. With this, Odisha became the first state in the country to take such an important decision.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik appeals to the people to follow lockdown rules and Covid guidelines on March 24.
Speaking in the State Assembly, Naveen said “The last 45 days have seen human beings as a race facing one of the biggest challenges of the century. We are faced with a threat that does not discriminate between developed countries and underdeveloped countries between democratic or non-democratic countries.”
Immediately, the state government imposed some significant measures and ordered for the closure of all educational institutions, cinema halls and swimming pools in the state till March 31. People were asked to avoid non-essential gatherings and assemblies like religious functions and wedding parties. The state government also earmarked Rs 200 crore to augment the public health response Fund to fight the disease.
The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack commissionerate police swung into action and cancelled all permissions given for social gathering s and other functions.
While taking various other measures to fight the pandemic, on 21st March 2020, Odisha took the bold step and declared near total lockdown in five vulnerable districts and eight cities of the state till March 29th thereby becoming the first state in the country in doing so. Just a day before the Janata Curfew imposed by the Center, the Odisha government declared shutdown in Khurda, Ganjam, Cuttack, Kendrapara, and Angul districts. Along with this, eight cities i.e., Puri, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Balasore, Rourkela, Bhadrak, Jajpur Road and Jajpur were also put under strict shutdown guidelines to contain the spread of Covid-19. The decision was taken keeping in view the susceptibility of these places to Coronavirus as more than 3000 foreign returnees into the state belonged to them. These five districts and eight cities constitute about 40 percent of the population of the state.
While essential services and communication modes such as airports, railway stations, bus stands were exempted from the lockdown, all other things remained under strict lockdown for the said period.
Announcing the decision, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “The time has come for us to take extraordinary steps and sacrifices to protect our state and our people.”
The lockdown guidelines allowed hospitals, clinics, medicine shops, food and grocery shops, restaurants (only takeaways and home deliveries), vegetables, meat and milk shops to be opened. Likewise, administration, police, health institutions, fire and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) offices, electricity, water and municipal services, banks, ATMs, petrol pumps were also allowed to remain open along with private establishments which support these basic services or are linked to the fight against the coronavirus.
The government also empowered the District Collectors in the lockdown areas to add or delete any sector/service to the list based on local assessment.
Announcing the lockdown decision, Naveen said it is the duty of the community, specifically sarapanchas, elected representatives and other community leaders, to keep a close watch and monitor the lockdown. He also warned that the administration will take tough action on anyone violating the lockdown and risking their lives or those of their family members and the people of Odisha.
Seeing the severity of the situation and global trends in spread of the virus, Odisha Government increased the number of districts under lockdown from 5 to 14 and almost 3 crore people had to stay indoors till March 29th in the state.
The new districts added to the list included Puri, Nayagarh, Jagatsinghpur, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Sambalpur and Jharsuguda.
All modes of public transport services including taxis and auto-rickshaws were banned in these districts but transport of all kinds to and from hospitals and airports remained exempted.
Economic activities such as commercial establishments, offices, factories, workshops and godowns directed to be shut in all these shutdown districts. The Chief Minister instructed the police to take stringent action against people violating the lockdown and social distance norms. Barricading and checking at major roads was carried out by the police and people were people were dissuaded from going out unnecessarily. Persons violating the containment measures were deemed to have committed offence punishable under Section 188 of the IPC.
All these proactive measures taken by the government to curb the spread of the disease were implemented well in time and some were taken for the first time in the country. Keeping about three crore people under lockdown was not a small effort and the state mechanism headed by experienced officials did its best. The measures taken by the government helped the government to augment the strengthening of healthcare facilities in the state. Odisha became an example for other states with its handling of the crisis. Bigger states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh etc., looked upon Odisha and emulated some of the best measures taken by it.
Newsroom’s special series on ‘COVID Chronicles’ to be continued…