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The Delhi Metro Railway Corporation recently said that they are working on a list of standard operating procedures to resume metro services as soon as possible. Mumbai local trains also restarted operations for essential services providers on June 15 after being shut for 84 days due to the lockdown restrictions, but the ridership remains abysmally low.
LocalCircles, India’s leading community social media platform, conducted a survey to check if, with Unlock 2.0, people look forward to using metros/local trains, visiting gyms/swimming pools, booking holiday hotel stays, among others, in the next month or so. The survey received over 24,000 responses from 241 districts of India.
Regarding the local railways, 25 per cent of citizens say they will take metro/local trains in the next 30 days if they are restarted. While 67 per cent said, they will not do it as it might be unsafe.
Although the sharp increase in fuel prices has put a dent in people’s pockets, they are still hesitant in using public transport due to the fear of catching Covid-19.
Gyms and pools
The Central Government, in the May 30 order, had said that they would decide on the reopening of gymnasiums and swimming pools during phase 3 of the unlocking plan. But, only 15 per cent citizens said that they would visit a gymnasium or swimming pool in the next 30 days if they are restarted. Contrary, a significant 84 per cent said they would stay away from these places for some more time.
Hotels and resorts
The hospitality sector has been one of the worst affected ones due to the coronavirus outbreak. Although the Government has permitted hotels to restart operations, their bookings have been low as people have stayed away from travel and public places. Business travel has been minimal, and holiday bookings have been nearly zero.
When asked if they were planning any holiday hotel stay with family in the next three months, i.e. between July to September, 93 per cent replied in a negative while only 4 per cent said yes.
With a daily caseload of over 18,000 and 525,000 plus infection, the spread of the virus is rising each day. At this junction, the results of the survey clearly show that the majority of citizens are not in favour of metros and local trains as well as gyms and swimming pools in Unlock 2.0 and add another variable to an already complex problem.
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