Editorial: Running into turbulence after flying high

This is the lockdown that attempted to flatten the corona curve by relying on social distancing, cutting down on industrial, professional, and non-essential activities such as travel, leisure; and going so far as to defer people availing of hospital services unless, of course, it was an emergency.

And now, the country has opened up the skies, or at least portions of it. The Centre, which has been following a top-down approach for most of its decisions so far, continues to turn a deaf ear to various states expressing their reservations on allowing incoming and outgoing air traffic through their borders. The reverberations of the decision were felt across the nation on Monday.

As many as 80 flights were cancelled in New Delhi and passengers in other metros such as Bengaluru and Mumbai also found themselves stranded owing to similar cancellations in their sector. And the indifference of those in power, even during something as critical as a pandemic, was on full display in Karnataka. Former chief minister Sadanand Gowda, who arrived in Bengaluru from New Delhi, ignored State protocols concerning COVID-19 and chose to drive away with his entourage, instead of confining himself to institutional quarantine as mandated by the local administration.

It might be worth recalling that Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had proverbially arm-twisted three states who opposed the airways being opened, into permitting flights. Maharashtra, the epicentre of India’s pandemic, was against the proposal till late on Sunday evening before it was compelled into accepting 25 flights (incoming and outgoing each). Tamil Nadu and West Bengal had also sought an extension on the no-fly rule, which was overturned. The proposal of leaving middle seats vacant for domestic flights was also discarded.

The world has borne witness to how India neglected its citizens stranded in neighbouring states, but rushed to ensure that its overseas citizens, or at the least the ones who could afford an overpriced air ticket, were brought back on priority. And when train services were finally organised for mass transit of migrants, social distancing went right out of the window. Thousands are making their way into rural hinterlands, raising real concerns about new COVID clusters being formed there. The implication of this migration, in the context of the virus spread, might only start becoming visible two weeks from now. The Centre must do an immediate stock-taking of its measures so far and the results that they have entailed. Bringing every state on board in executing a unified action plan, keeping all stakeholders and support systems in the loop to deal with the pandemic, is the need of the hour. The price we pay for not having an inclusive decision-making process will be unimaginably steep.