When the summer heat becomes really unbearable in the plains, we all want to rush to the hills. This is not always a good idea for the hills because unplanned and irresponsible development often leads to disaster. Now is no different, even during a pandemic. As soon as lockdown restrictions were eased people made a beeline for the hills. Traffic jams in Himachal Pradesh became bad enough to be reported in the news:
The snaking hill roads have been widened and much improved lately, particularly the roads leading up to Shimla from Chandigarh.
It was announced that RT-PCR tests would no longer be needed and this happened. Those who had been longing to escape to the hills were delighted.
There has been extensive four-laning in the hills, but there are still traffic jams like these – because everyone and their cousins want to flee to the hills.
At least cars seem to be keeping to their lanes – otherwise, things would have been even worse.
Cool climes, verdant hills, peace and quiet. This is what people go looking for.
Reality however is different: crowded towns, congested roads, overflowing hotels. We had been making plans for ages – with this announcement many of us were like this.
The unlock process always prompts some rather extreme reactions.
Innoculate people at checkpoints. It could actually have worked!
People behave as though they’ve been let out of prison, though the pandemic still continues. Why are we so reckless, wondered many of the tweeple? Have we no sense of the common good, or even a modicum of self-preservation?
It has been bad for people who rely on tourism – arguably the sector hardest hit by the pandemic and resultant lockdowns. Hopefully, people will behave responsibly while they are in the hills.
Hopefully, they won’t think of relaxation of norms in Himachal Pradesh as a sign of normalcy and will remember that the COVID 19 pandemic is still very much present among us. Hopefully, right now we are looking only at the third wave - only of cars and not a deadly third wave of the pandemic.
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