Awareness, not coercion: VZM tries out new method of social distancing

Visakhapatnam: With social distancing being the call of the day in the fight against the novel coronavirus, the Vizianagaram district administration is using novel and creative methods to effect social distancing, especially at rythu bazaars.
Rythu bazaars have already been decentralised with some farmers’ markets being shifted to open grounds and mobile units selling vegetables.Now, the administration is using bamboo rings so that people maintain a minimum distance between each other.
Talking about this newly-adopted method, Vizianagaram district collector M Hari Jawaharlal said, “The idea is to ensure that people don’t jump the line or crowd in shops. Most importantly, this is self-induced and does not involve coercion by law enforcement agencies.” The collector said that this method makes people feel responsible and conscious.
Joint collector G Ch Kishore Kumar said, “We did not want to use aggressive methods to enforce discipline. We tried this model where people don’t feel that they are being disciplined. Instead, the public has now become conscious. People are not just watching themselves but others as well.”
Sources said that this has not only ensured distancing but has also brought down panic buying.