Among the long list of unfathomable events brought to reality by Covid-19 induced unprecedented lockdown, we have a deafening silence of Aamchi Mumbai locals that have been shut for over a month now.
Revered for being a Mumbai’s lifeline or its heartbeat, it imbibes the famed indomitable spirit of Mumbai that effortlessly soaks in every color of the rainbow of people’s life. How it’s vast and varied populace enjoys the bonhomie, harmony, and brotherhood together in the toughest of uninhabitable conditions, is an exemplar of the best socialization seen in Mumbai local.
In case you have not had the heavenly opportunity of commuting by Mumbai local, imagine yourself at Dadar station during peak hours. As soon as local arrives, the jaw-dropping sight of swarming Mumbaikars boarding on and getting off the train in a matter of seconds is sure to leave you gasping for air.
The intense jostling for every inch of space inside the coaches is no match for any body-massage where all the Yoga Asanas seems packed into one. Competing for the oxygen with hundreds of others in the same coach and surviving their odor would give every episode of Bear Grylls a run for his money. Certainly, you will learn such Pranayam exercises that are never found in any Yoga books.
Such breathtaking feats are an indispensable part of any Mumbaikar’s daily routine. Yet nothing prevents him to socialize with full fervor even in the face of most challenging circumstances. The rollercoaster rides of Mumbai local serve the commuting needs of over 80 lakh Mumbaikers on a daily basis. As they are biding their time in home isolation, the Local train system is undergoing repair works across its tracks and thereby effectively utilizing the lockdown period.
With over 4200 positive cases, Mumbai is topping the charts as the city marred by the highest number of Covid-19 positive cases. The hotspots like Dharavi are densely populated where keeping the social distancing is next to impossible. The social distancing and sanitization norms enforced by the Covid -19 pandemic are most likely to stay with us in the post lockdown world.
How would the ever-crowded and jam-packed Mumbai locals ferry lakhs of Mumbaikers once the lockdown is lifted? How do we ensure social distancing in Mumbai locals? The Mumbaikers are renowned for their innovative ideas to deal upfront with the challenges. They would surely come up with something to ensure a safe and healthy commute post lockdown period.
Wearing a mask and carrying a pocket-sized sanitizer would become as essential as the season ticket. There would be multiple sanitization machines installed at every entry and exit point at the suburban stations. The coaches would be sanitized regularly using the hypochlorite solution.
The biggest challenge would be to maintain a safe distance from the fellow commuter in the locals or at the stations. Can we limit the number of commuters allowed to travel at a time in a coach? It’s too complicated as every other coach is usually extremely overcrowded especially during peak hours. Can we permanently switch to Work from home? However, it’s not feasible for every job on the planet.
That reminds me of the movie “Avatar” wherein the wheelchair-bound protagonist can remotely control his well-developed humanoid avatar body on a far distant planet using his brain. Imagine the scenario if we all have our strong and viral infection proof humanoid avatar body. We would need to cryosleep in some high tech gadget at our home and that would activate our avatar elsewhere which then moves around physically, travels by Mumbai Local and accomplishes all our tasks, At the end of the day, our avatar would sleep in the gadget as in we park our vehicles in the garage and simultaneously we would wake up at our homes in our original body. We may see that happening sometime in the future but that moment is still a few decades away.
The only viable solution seems is the administration of the Covid-19 vaccine to the entire populace against the contagion or testing every commuter with a rapid test kit before he/she boards the local.
Both these solutions remain unpragmatic as of now as the vaccine would be available only by next year and the availability of the rapid test kits is limited to test only suspected patients and the random testing would keep many potential cases remaining undetected. Whatever may happen, brace for some life-altering changes in the post lockdown dynamics.
great content!!