Commercial,spiritual activities restart in southern states

Commercial and spiritual activities got a restart in southern states on Monday in line with the Centre's graded exit plan from the lockdown, 'Unlock 1.0' when temples, malls and restaurants resumed functioning after over a 70-day hiatus due to the coronavirus-induced curbs. However, caution took centrestage in the resumption of activities with social distancing and certain other never before heard curbs, especially in temples, greeting shoppers, devotees and those visiting hotels.

State government offices in Kerala resumed work with full strength. Earlier, unveiling its 'Unlock 1.0,' the Centre had among others, allowed reopening of places of worship on Monday, besides allowing dine-in services in restaurants.

Temples in Karnataka and Telangana were opened only for darshan while there were no special pujas. The traditional 'teertha' (holy water) or 'prasad', the holy offering, were not being distributed in Karnataka temples.

Thermal scanners greeted devotees in temples, while social distancing was the mantra, even as other places of worship like mosques too implemented a number of curbs though they opened the doors for devotees. In Tamil Nadu, the government is yet to take a call on reopening all places of worship, which did not reopen on Monday, while those in Kerala, inlcuding the Sabarmala Ayyappa shrine, will be opened on Tuesday.

However, some temples, churches and mosques in Kerala have deferred their reopening and will stay closed till the end of June in view of the spread of coronavirus. The Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh will start receiving devotees from Thursday although a trial run involving the employees and locals was done on Monday.

The administering body, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, has capped the daily visitors' number at 6,000 from June 11. In Karnataka, Namaz (prayer) mats and water for ablution are not being provided at the premises of mosques with authorities requesting devotees to offer prayers at their homes.

The Archdiocese of Bangalore has already deferred the opening of churches till June 13 to educate the visitors about the new norms to contain coronavirus. Malls in Karnataka and Telangana also opened shutters for business after 75 days.

In Bengaluru, though malls have also been given permission to open, few of them have decided to defer it for a few days. Those opening them said all measures would be followed and visitors should have downloaded the Arogya Setu app on their mobile phones.

Sources in a Hyderabad mall said the crowd was moderate and mostly women and that they were looking at buying cosmetics and garments. While restaurants and hotels also started dine-in services in southern cities, it still was not on par pre-COVID-19 days.

Tamil Nadu Hotels Association president M Venkata Subbu said in Chennai only 25 per cent of the about 20,000 restaurants and in rest of Tamil Nadu, 75 per cent of approximately 30,000 hotels opened. This was prompted by factors like labour shortage and a sense of apprehension vis-a-vis the spread of coronavirus among both owners and the general public especially in Chennai, he told PTI.

Achieving break-even would be a tough task considering the increase in input costs like disinfection as the government had allowed only 50 per cent occupancy in hotels. "There cannot be even break-even for running restaurants at 50 per cent of the seating capacity, various overheads and the new cost additions due to COVID-19," he said.

Several new norms like providing hand sanitisers,thermal screening customers, and sanitising floors and othersurfaces quite often as per governmentinstructions have increased the cost by approximately 10 per cent, he said. Dine-in services saw a lukewarm public response while a chunk of eateries stuck to takeaway services alone due to factors like labour shortage.

The scene was similar in Bengaluru where the number of customers at hotels and restaurants remained scarce. Only takeaways were allowed at hotels and restaurants all these days.

All measures have been taken to maintain social distancing and follow government guidelines, a restaurant manager said, adding menu cards will not be placed on tables and more digital transactions would be encouraged. Maintaining hygiene and regular sanitisation will be given importance, he said, adding "we are doing our best." In Kerala, government offices began functioning with full staff from Monday, after remaining closed for about 75 days due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

A government order on Sunday had said all government, quasi-government and PSU offices in Kerala, except those in containment zones, should function with full staff strength from Monday. In containment zones, offices will function with minimum employees.

The order, however, said that offices will remain closed on Saturday until further orders. The state government has said government officials, who have contracted the infection, would be given special casual leave.

Employees will also be sanctioned leave in case any of their family member contracts the disease..