Bhubaneswar July 14 :The Odisha government on Tuesday announced that it will not allow Kaudia/Bol Bam devotees to collect water from any religious places at Shiva Temples during the month of Shravan even as the Union health ministry said Odisha is among the top five states reporting Covid-19 cases.
Special relief commissioner Pradeep Jena said the Bol Bam devotees will not be allowed to carry water from any religious place or any other source and walk on any public road to take the water to their local shrine during the Odia month of Shravan beginning July 23. The state government order came even though Odisha reported 1930 cases in the last 24 hours with daily positivity rate slipping to 3.09 per cent. However, on Tuesday the state reported 68 Covid deaths, its highest single-day Covid death taking the total deaths to 4730.
The state has banned all kinds of social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions and closed all religious places till July 16 and was apprehensive that congregation of Bol Bum devotees at Shiva temples across the state could lead to a possible rise in infection.
‘On further assessment of the situation and in the interest of the health of general public, the state government do hereby order that congregations by Bol Bom would remain prohibited and they are not allowed to carry water from religious places or any other sources and also not allowed to walk on public roads and pour water in temples during the Odia month of Shravan (July/August), 2021,’ said the order by special relief commissioner Pradip Jena.
PM Modi has convened a review meeting on July 16 of several states including Odisha, where the Covid situation in several coastal districts including Khordha, Cuttack and Puri remains a matter of concern.
The total positivity rate hasn’t stablised yet in Bhubaneswar where it rises to 8% on some days, and slips below the 5% mark on others. Experts have attributed some of these differences of the positivity rate to inconsistent testing.
‘TPR is not coming down and deaths are going up. In Maharashtra and Kerala, a third wave has started without announcement and if the TPR remains like this in Odisha, there is every possibility of the Covid virus undergoing another mutation and triggering a third wave,’ said noted microbiologist Dr TM Mohapatra. ‘The government should clarify the inconsistency in test figures, deaths and TPR.’
Though the lockdown is currently operational in 10 districts till July 16, public health director Niranjan Mishra said any decision on further extension would be taken considering the case load and positivity rate. ‘People need to avoid gathering, especially indoor gatherings. If the guidelines are not followed, the possibilities of the third wave will increase,’ he said.
Meanwhile, director of Medical Education & Training Dr CBK Mohanty said the state government should impose stricter measures to monitor the flow of people through interstate mobility to keep the infection rate under control in Odisha. ‘There has been a dip in the infection rate in Odisha for the last few days. But we shouldn’t be complacent, rather keep track of the people entering the State from other Covid-affected states,’ he said.