Letting unvaccinated use local trains will spread virus: Maharashtra govt to HC

MUMBAI: The state government on Wednesday told the Bombay high court that allowing everyone, irrespective of their vaccination status, to travel by public transport will not only endanger lives but also negate all its efforts taken so far to prevent Covid-19 transmission.
“Allowing unvaccinated persons to mix with people by using public transport will only endanger lives and invite explosive transmission of coronavirus and its subsequent variants, and the government of Maharashtra, as parens patriae (state as protector), cannot afford to take that risk,” it said, in reply to two PILs by Feroze Mithiborwala and Yohan Tengra to allow unvaccinated persons to travel by local trains.
On December 15, a bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta, directed chief secretary Debashish Chakrabarty, who is also member of State Disaster Management Authority, to explain the rationale for division of vaccinated and unvaccinated persons to travel by local trains.
Explaining the “logic”, Chakrabarty said a doubly vaccinated person, even if he or she contracts Covid infection, is expected to have reduced chances of hospital stay or requirement of oxygen. “These are scarce public resources and were stretched in the last wave,” he added. Further, that though in-house oxygen production has increased, demand cannot be contained without getting citizens fully vaccinated. “No citizen can proclaim his or her fundamental right to get reckless to bring pressure on resources like oxygen and hospitals that must be considered scarce public resources,” he added.
“Unfortunately, the problem is not over as yet. There is likelihood of a third wave, and there is also likelihood of the spread of new variant of the virus known as Omicron,” he said. The reply said the restriction on unvaccinated persons is applicable not only to local train services but “all types of public transport.” Also, it would be “reasonable restriction” under the Constitution in larger public interest.
The reply said before the pandemic the average number of persons traveling by local trains in Central and Western Railway was nearly 80 lakh per day. Compared to that only on December 20, 2021 it was 37.33 lakh on CR and 28.82 lakh on WR. The judges posted the hearing on January 3.