The Janata Curfew on March 22 and the subsequent lockdown to stall the spread of COVID-19 pandemic has had a big impact in the country. How the lockdown has disrupted life has been revealed by mobility data that tracked cellphones in the country. Cellphone mobility data over the past few months shows a sharp -45% decline in time spent by citizens in Hyderabad in workplaces.
The anonymised data released by Google shows that the time spent near residential premises has gone up by 15% between July and September. Another mobility data of driving behaviour shows that the city is back to near-normalcy with a 2% higher usage of vehicles on September 7 than on January 13 much before the COVID-19 lockdown.
The mobility data has been released to aid and guide public health policy as it reveals behaviour that might help policy makers. The data has been segmented into retail and recreation, supermarket and pharmacy, parks, public transport, workplaces and residential areas.
The baseline for the data is just before the outbreak of the pandemic and declaration of lockdown in the country. The biggest swing in the driving data shows that between April and May, there was 80% decline in usage of vehicles and is now gradually improving.
The biggest impact in Hyderabad has been a -75% dip in visits to parks, plazas and public spaces. While parks have remained shuttered in Hyderabad, citizens have been using roads and other open spaces for recreational purposes.
The under-construction suspension bridge over Durgam Cheruvu has become a favourite haunt as the KBR Park has remained closed.
While time spent in pharmacies and supermarkets showed a 4% uptick in Telangana, it has remained -3% in Hyderabad as citizens are still wary of visiting supermarkets.
It is the dip in public transport that shows how the lockdown has impacted life. Usage of public transport dipped by -32% in Telangana, but in Hyderabad it was -55%.
The Hyderabad Metro was off rails till September 7, while there is no date for resumption of city services of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, which resumed its district services in the last week of May.