Lathi charge was implemented amid celebrations by the police in Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, and Bengaluru, during New Year’s Eve for huge gatherings in public places.
New Year festivities were held in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa, and other major Indian cities as 2024 started. For those ringing in the New Year’s amid the news of rising Covid cases in our neighbour country China. For the first time in almost two years, India is celebrating New Year with lesser restrictions. Although authorities in India are taking measures, no significant restrictions have yet been imposed, For the time being, tourists arriving from China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Thailand must undergo RT-PCR tests.
Every year before Covid, it was customary for people to congregate on city streets around Midnight. A typical countdown of 10 is done when the clock is close to striking 12.
Due to COVID’s dire situation and lockdown for two years, people are forced to stay indoors. Since mid-2022, the situation circulating Covid has been pretty laid back; life was going back to normal, but in the past couple of weeks, the unbelievable surge in Covid cases in China has kept Indian authorities worried, and they are taking every possible precaution to prevent a Covid uprising in India as well.
New year’s Celebration and chaos amid Covid Caution in these Cities
Bengaluru
The authorities specifically instructed the pupils earlier this week to only celebrate their New year’s eve at eateries, bars, hotels and resorts until 1 in the morning. Despite the instructions, there was a meeting of huge crowds jamming the streets at midnight as we can see in the video published by the news agency ANI.
Delhi
India Gate in Delhi, also saw a sizable crowd gathered on the road amid the Covid uprising to celebrate New Year. There were strict instructions to not take celebrations on the road because Delhi is currently facing a smog-like situation and there is a higher risk of Covid surge. A greater emphasis on security was placed before the festivities. The city had almost 18,000 police officers on duty, according to PTI.
Although Massive preparations were made in advance of New Year’s eve to control crowds amid Covid uprising at the Kartavya Path, formerly known as Rajpath. reportedly 40 buses and more than 1,000 parking spaces have been set aside by the civic authorities.
Mumbai
On New Year’s Eve in Mumbai, a sizable crowd was spotted unwinding at Marine Drive and a few other well-known locations.
At Mumbai’s renowned Siddhivinayak Temple, morning prayers were being said. The festivities continued late into the night, amid the restrictions filling the streets of Manali’s Mall Road and Mussoorie in Uttarakhand.
Goa
Goa, as expected, was one of the tourist spots that witnessed a lot of visitors and a crowd celebrating New year’s eve. Although the parties here were done in closed parameters and Goa is for now not facing a Covid surge but the restrictions are still maintained rigorously.
The Cochin Carnival drew a sizable crowd to Kochi in Kerala. The federal government had instructed the states to ensure crowd control amid New Year’s celebrations and to make the use of masks mandatory before the celebration. Indian authorities have also boosted their guards once more as several parts of the world experience an increase in instances.
Covid’s Restrictions on New Year’s by Karnataka Government
The Karnataka government mandated home quarantine on Sunday for travellers arriving from high-risk countries. “International visitors from high-risk nations, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand, must spend 7 days at home under quarantine after their arrival. A notice from the Health Department intended for overseas passengers stated that infected individuals were to be treated and managed in accordance with the State Covid procedure once they tested positive, according to news agency PTI.
The recent risk of lives amid COVID-19 increasing instances in China has the Indian authorities on edge, but no new limitations have been issued yet. Despite this, India is taking safeguards.
For travellers arriving from Singapore, Thailand, China, South Korea, and Japan, RT-PCR tests are now required.
According to information released on Wednesday by the Health Ministry, there may be an increase in coronavirus cases in India in January.
