Pune becomes ‘Covid conscious’, a touch too late

In lockdown one, Pune was under the impression that Covid-19 was “out there”, not so much able to infect you and me. The mask rule was not strictly followed. Now, Pune gets it. Covid-19 is here. Everyone wears a mask. No one complains and the general lockdown is adhered to

I walk for an hour every day. The cops don’t stop me. The cops do not stop anyone out cycling or walking or running, as long as the mask is on and there are no groups.

While in the lockdown last year, masks were an irritant to be done away with. Punekars have now accepted that their lived depend on it. (Bloomberg)

I walk from my home in Salisbury Park, up past the Central Defence Accounts office, take a right at the main road and then head to five road stretches which are de rigueur for exercisers, from either Salisbury Park, Pul gate, or from the Army area that surrounds it.

Hutchings School, the road parallel to it, Middle Road, Napier road and the road that runs past the AFMC nurses quarters. All microcosms of a time when all of Pune was like these roads – bungalows with verdant foliage lining broad streets that for the most part, see little or no traffic.

Not anymore.

The lockdown effect (avoid the cops), or may be just a general overspill of Pune’s urban growth, now sees these laid-back, fully residential areas bustling with twice the amount of traffic as five years ago; certainly the case with Napier road.

I walked the route in lockdown 1, and am walking it in the current lockdown. I walked the same route before the lockdowns and in between.

Microcosmically, walking the same stretch for over a year allows you to take in the finer details of the roads. The houses, the dogs and Punekars, in general.

Here is the shortlist of stuff I’ve noticed.

What the spit is wrong with you?

The average Punekar spits in public without a second thought to public cleanliness or a general rule of health. On the route I walk, I endeavour to go one day where I see no one spit. For over a year, it has not been possible. Someone will spit in public – man, woman and child. My mind travels back 20 years ago, when as a budding reporter, I covered an event in Sadashiv peth, attended by the likes of the late Dr Banoo Coyajee and Dr Rajiv Sarangpani, where the raison d’être of the meeting was public cleanliness and what ordinary citizens did, at the time, to ensure their public habits did not put public health at risk.

Much like an AA meeting, one man stood up, said his name and then said, “I have not spit in public or on the road for the last seven years”.

The tone and tenor of the sharing suggested spitting as an addiction for him, which he had conquered.

Spitting, by and large, is a subconscious reality for the average Punekar. And it is sickening.

Strays and pets pooping

I tread carefully now. My family has a pet dog, a stray, picked off the street as a pup, now commands love and care that on most days, even I am jealous of.

Must pets be allowed to poop on the street? Must pet owners who walk their dogs on the street carry the poop back with them? Are the animal saviours that scour Salisbury Park and Napier road ensuring that strays are fed, responsible for animal waste dotting the landscape?

There is no easy answer, I get that. But, a smart city must evolve to tackle such community issues.

A penchant for throwing out food

The streets I walk, especially Hutchings school and Middle road, provide ideal getaways for autorickshaw drivers seeking to escape the afternoon heat (yes, I walk in the afternoon-early evening), and for all sorts of Punekars – youth looking for a perfect selfie in the middle of the road; young couples out for some quality time together and drug addicts and afternoon tipplers. I have encountered all on the route in some shape or form.

The one common thread that binds all these different groups of people is their ability to throw food on the road.

The drinkers will liberally leave their chaknya behind on the road; the couples, whatever snack they were nibbling on; and even the stop-for-lunch crowd… food is on the road. A true waste.

Covid 19: Pune now gets it… a touch too late

In lockdown one, Pune was under the impression that Covid-19 was “out there”, not so much able to infect you and me. Much like the helmet rule is for everyone else, and certainly not for me in “my area”, the mask rule was not strictly followed. Most people exercising on my route did not bother with the mask.

Now, Pune gets it. Covid-19 is here. Everyone wears a mask. No one complains and the general lockdown is adhered to.

Running, cycling, walking, all with masks on. The “what if” scenario beckons… but, “better late than never” is perhaps on point.

The author is News Editor, HT Pune