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As the COVID-19 positive case in the city inches towards 2,000 with the addition of over 300 cases a day and the Coimbatore Corporation takes measures to contain infection spread, there are pockets where all guidelines are thrown to the wind.
Flower Market on Mettupalayam Road appears to be one of those pockets where both customers and flower vendors have thrown caution to the wind. Right from the shops leading to the market gate to those on the inside, only a handful of traders have their mask on.
A few others have the mask beneath their chin and others are without mask. The customers’ adherence to safety guideline is no different.
Sources in the market admit that this has been the situation in the past few days as the footfall started increasing ahead of Pongal. The traders most often lower their mask to shout out to draw customers and the latter, too, down their mask to bargain.
Given the increase in footfall the need for maintaining physical distance is impossible, the sources say and add that if the Corporation had shifted the market to a school or college ground, as it did during the previous lockdown, adherence to physical distance would have been possible.
In this limited space where hundreds of traders and customers move around it is impossible to observe physical distance unless the Corporation regulates crowd, the sources add.
The Corporation officials say at the Flower Market the civic body stations a vehicle fitted with public address system to create awareness among people and urge them to wear mask. It also slaps fine at the market as it does in other places.
If there are specific complaints from the market area the Corporation will deploy a special team to strictly enforce the safety guideline, they add.
Corporation Deputy Commissioner M. Sharmila says during a surprise inspection at Flower Market on Wednesday morning she found a high percentage of persons complying with COVID-19 safety guideline. She has asked officials to deploy a battery operated vehicle with public address system inside the market to ensure people wearing mask and on Thursday the Corporation will deploy a mobile medical team to lift samples at random there.
Meanwhile, the Corporation has identified over 30 streets or layouts with over five COVID-19 positive cases. The civic body sources say such areas are spread across the five zones. A few of the streets have eight – nine cases, where the civic body has deployed its field survey workers for door-to-door campaign.