Bhubaneswar: Exactly one year ago, on this day, Odisha became the first state in the country to impose near complete lockdown in five districts and eight cities to contain the spread of the deadly Coronavirus. The decision was announced by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik after review of the situation in the state. The most vulnerable Khurdha, Cuttack, Ganjam, Kendrapada and Angul districts were included and the populous towns of Puri, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda ,Balasore, Jajpur road, Jajpur town and Bhadrak were also included. The imposition of lockdown in these areas proved to be practical as it helped to contain the spread of the virus and helped the government ramp up the infrastructure to fight the disease.
Announcing the tough but necessary message through a video, issued on 21st March 2020, Naveen Said “In the first phase, we are going for a near complete lockdown in all these areas from 7 A.M. tomorrow till 9pm of March 29”.
He also said “Time has come for us to take the extraordinary step and sacrifice, to protect our State and our people. I humbly request you to stay at home and come out only for basic services. Let us take care of people who have worked for us for long years and pay them their wages for this time even though we have to discontinue their services temporarily. These are extraordinary times, we all have to pitch in . The police cannot enforce this everywhere. We have to see it as our Responsibility to protect our lives”.
Naveen Said, “It is the duty of the community, specifically Sarpanches and elected representatives and other community leaders to keep a close watch and monitor this lockdown 4.5 crore people of Odisha are my family and I am concerned about the well being of each one of you”.
“In the last 60 days the world has changed. We thought the change is happening in faraway places like China, South Korea but it has reached India now. In the last 15 days, the most powerful countries of the World – U.S., U.K., many in Europe have been severely affected. The case numbers are rising in India. We have a very small window to take pre-emptive action. There is no cure for this virus”.
“The only cure is prevention. It is only if you go out of your home that you may bring the virus to your home and your neighborhood. Only through this strategy, China and some countries have reversed the trend” the CM added.
With this big announcement, all distribution of benefits such as Pension and PDS were postponed for the time being to avoid any gatherings. District Collectors were empowered to add or delete any sector /service to this list based on local assessment. Hospitals, clinics, medical shops, grocery shops, restaurants (only takeaways and home deliveries) vegetables, meat and milk shops/bread and bakery (but selling of tea and other beverages in the same premises have to be closed), Railways, Bus stands Airports were allowed to remain open as also Public Transport.
Administration, Police, Health, Fire, ODRAF, Electricity, Water, Municipal Services, Banks, ATMs, Petrol pumps remained open alongwith private establishments that supported the above services.