‘Aamchi Mumbai’ from the eyes of a passionate Mumbaikar from Silchar

May 14: The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent nationwide lockdown has left a deep scar in the lives of all. It’s a panic ridden world in which we are now inhabiting. The imprints of COVID-19 has been the severe in Maharashtra to be general and Mumbai to be specific. This write up by Dr. Ruchira Das Paul, an alumnus of Assam University is a first hand description of the the life in Mumbai amidst the outbreak of COVID-19. Presently residing in Mumbai, Ruchira narrates how the ongoing pandemic has impacted the financial nerve-centre of the country from the eyes of a passionate Mumbaikar. An avid music lover, Ruchira Das Paul also gives an account of the prevailing situation in the state of Maharashtra before enabling a glance of how life has changed for her and the maximum city that she is smitten with.

Mumbai- The city of dreams, the city which never sleeps or the aamchi Mumbai. Vocabularies fall short to delineate the city, which has always been the stored house of dreams for millions and billions of Indians who musters the courage to dream big. The onset of the deadly Covid 19 has now taken the city in its grip and brought life to a standstill. The emergence of the virus couldn’t stay subtle and has exponentially aggravated to date from getting infected to fatality lately.

The virus has left its imprints in the life of all, from a child to a a school-college goer, a businessman, to our very own daily wage workers. The impact has been so large in a snap of a month that it has left every sector exasperated and affected to a larger scale than anticipated. We have been anticipating anxiously for a miraculous quantum leap in the medical sciences for a breakthrough in vaccination or other prophylactic medications. The world is still spinning round and round for the final ‘This is it’. Scientists are coming up everyday showing potency could be dictated by the  plasma therapy, hydroxychloroquines, remdesivir  and many mor,e but no validation till date.

We are a 3 membered family. Life was at ease but with the sudden jolt of COVID-19, it has laid few strategies of life upside down which includes positive and negative imprints . The outlook towards every trivial things in life has changed with the eerie COVID-19. Since the augment of novel coronavirus, we have definitely locked up ourselves except for necessary exit. But do every individual we are surrounded by have the same consciousness in themselves? May be not. That’s why there is such an upsurge in Mumbai cases. We are surrounded by a market area and we witnessed a flow of people everyday in the market places with least maintenance of social distancing norms, though masks were worn. Thanks to the Government for making it mandatory.

Though  necessary administrative measures were taken by the local  social workers like time management for the fruit/ vegetable vendors. We were relieved to have a good society and a secretary. At his senior age, he had managed every essential commodities from egg, milk to fruits, milk & animal products, and vegetables, ATM vans inside our premises with safety precautions and taking care of the needs of the daily workers in our society. What more could we ask for in such difficult times! He is doing a commendable  job on his part.

Sanitisation takes place in consecutive times. We are in a terror actually because we are marked in the red alert zone with few buildings under quarantine in the vicinity. Most of the schools and other extra curricular classes have started online . We do a lot of face time with our friends and relatives which we hardly did in our usual busy lives. Most of the weekend house parties are happening though zoom and the utmost credit and love goes to our children for bearing with us and the present situation so peacefully and sensibly.  Kudos and much love to them.

Aren’t that the good parts of being quarantined! With all the happy and sad notes, lets keep our fingers crossed and with much love and positivity at heart. We can hope for a better and serene  tomorrow!

Maharashtra at a glance:

Mumbai, the financial capital has today stopped breathing because of the sharp and abrupt rise in cases with the first case on 9 March, 2020. The dedicated dense populace of the state has reached the numerical 25 k cases with 15 k cases in Mumbai alone. This includes more than 900 deaths and  and 5 k recovery. Mumbai has become the hot breeding ground for the virus. This is certainly alarming.

How has this affected economy and daily affairs from daily wage workers, transport, and other sectors? Covid 19 has touched every corner to mutate people’s daily routine. Densely populated city and half of the population sharing a tragic poverty in slums with shared sanitation and water resources could add to the reason. The cry of concern is that 5 biggest private hospitals are shut down and more than 150 health workers are infected.

The burning question is how to manage the disease with the onset of monsoon and other seasonal onset. As per a national document released a few days back, a set up of hospital infection control committee (HICC) is advised by the health Ministry. The State has 29 Govt labs and 19 private labs for testing approved by ICMR.

As of now, there are some eases in the lockdown norms by the demarcation of containment areas as red and orange zone . The movement and the opening of essential standalone stores has been restricted from 7 am to 7 pm. Transportation could make a matter of concern with the present containment in a busy city like Mumbai. To the relief of the commons, buses are mend to operate at 50 percent seating capacity in the green zone. Lockdown restraints were gradually eased for particular sectors, as industries, railways, government offices, BEST buses and trucks. But the BMC is certainly confronting real challenges in tackling the sudden flexibility.

Even the infamous 1992 riots or the Mumbai blasts could pull the brake of the local trains which are the heart and soul of the daily commuters of Mumbai . But the corona enforced lockdown has now hailed it to a complete standstill. Our heart weeps out loud witnessing the wails and pain of the daily wage and migrant workers. We who owns the potency to help them are reaching out to their relief. Maharashtra Govt has set up office to aid these stranded people. To the horror, its painful to see them standing in queue for hours under scorching heat to travel . Till date, more than 2000 workers have left for home from Mumbai and some have been reported to stay back to help in building of hospitals for novel Coronavirus treatment.

Mumbai being the Financial Capital, has contributed upto 6% to the Country’s  GDP and 66% to Maharashtra’s GDP. Nearly 70% of the contribution is just service sector confined, which recapitulates the amount of economy loss impacted. It would definitely take months to return and hold the steering back to normal considering all sectors. Amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases, the central team visited Mumbai to take a stock of the situation. The Centre advised the Maharashtra government to increase surveillance in the congested areas to stop the spread of the virus. We could only hope that good old days come back soon and planet earth again rejuvenate with life.