Ranchi: In a desperate attempt to beat the pandemic blues and put 2020 behind them, Ranchiites threw caution to the wind and thronged the picnic spots and temples here on the first day of the new year, resulting in safety norms like social distancing, for example, going for a toss.
On Friday morning, people from all age groups were spotted in popular picnic spots like Patratu Valley, Dhurwa Dam, Dasam Falls, Jonha Falls and Hirni Falls. From teenagers clicking selfies to adults spending some quality time with their friends, all of them were seen behaving in a way which indicated that the outbreak no longer exists. Almost everyone was roaming around without masks or he/she did not maintain social distancing. When asked, Tupudana resident Ranjit Kumar Singh, who had come to Dhurwa Dam with his friends for a picnic, said, “We have been cooped up in our homes for the past nine months because of the outbreak and now we cannot take it anymore. How can one expect us to not go out or indulge in some merry-making with our near and dear ones on the first day of the New Year.”
Similar scenes and sentiments prevailed in temples as devotees made a beeline for Jagganathpur temple (in Dhurwa), Sai Mandir and Sai Ashram (in Pundag) and Shiva temple (in Ranchi Pahadi) “to pray for a virus-free 2021”. Needless to say, the temple authorities had a tough time in managing the devotees as they violated the safety norms. Though the authorities distributed masks at the entry point and made sure the devotees sanitised their hands prior to their entrance, things took a turn for the worse inside the temple premises when social distancing wnet for a toss and the volunteers had a tough time in enforcing it.
At Sai Dham, the temple management committee seemed helpless as its repeated requests to maintain social distancing fell on deaf ears. “We have deployed five security guards and distributed over 300 masks and are asking people to use sanitizers before they enter the premises. We asked the devotees not to crowd the place but they are not listening,” Pragya Shambhavi, one of the trustees of Sai Dham, said.
The temple’s security guards said that faced maximum resistance from the women devotees when they did not pay attention to their request to maintain the safety norms. “Despite asking them repeatedly to not crowd the area, the women devotees aren’t ready to budge. They continue to stay put and refuse to leave the premises after their darshan,” a security guard preferring anonymity said.
Khushi Singh, a first-year student of Nirmala College who was spotted at Saidham temple, said, “I prayed for our offline academic session to resume since our studies has suffered a lot due to the pandemic. I cannot afford to have another year wasted because of coronavirus.”