No lockdown, partial or total, in Telangana: CM Chandrashekar Rao

It was the first official meeting held by KCR since April 19, when he went into quarantine at his Siddipet farmhouse after testing positive for Covid-19

Telangana will not impose a lockdown -- partial or total -- to contain the spread of Coronavirus, as it will lead to the collapse of the financial system in the state.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. (File photo)

A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level official meeting chaired by chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) at his camp office late on Thursday. It was the first official meeting held by KCR since April 19, when he went into quarantine at his Siddipet farmhouse after testing positive for Covid-19.

According to a late-night official release from the chief minister’s office, KCR told the officials there was no question of imposing a lockdown in the state. He also pointed out that Covid numbers had not dropped in states under lockdown either.

He said there were over 250,000-300,000 workers from other states working here, and the state could not afford to see them leave, and not return, as had happened during last year’s lockdown.

“Moreover, there is bumper yield of paddy in the state and procurement is on at 6,144 centres in the state. There are hundreds of thousands of people involved in the process. What will happen to the workers who came from other states and are working in the rice mills if lockdown is imposed? The entire paddy purchase process will come to a standstill,” he said.

A lockdown could lead to a panic situation, he said. “Hence, we are not ready for the lockdown. But, we will identify the areas with a greater number of cases and declare them as micro-level containment zones,” he said.

The chief minister also spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over phone about the supply of the required vaccines, oxygen and Remdesivir injections at the earliest. He brought to the PM’s notice that the oxygen supplies allocated to the state from Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu and Bellary in Karnataka had not been supplied so far.

“Since Hyderabad is a medical hub, people from the bordering states also depend on Hyderabad for medical treatment,” he said.

At present, the state has 440 MT of oxygen per day and it should be increased 500 MT per day. Likewise, only 4,900 vials of Remdesivir are available and against the requirement of 25,000. He said the Centre has so far given only 5 million doses of vaccine. He requested the Prime Minister to ensure the supply of 200,000-250,000 doses of vaccine per day.