I first went to Manali when I was just four years old – we stayed in a log-hut close to the riverside. It was peaceful, serene and secluded; so spectacular was that trip that I still have some memories of it! Cut to a few years ago on another trip to Manali, the first thing we had to contend with was a traffic jam getting into town. Then there was the issue of battling crowds of people and finding parking wherever we went. Today, things are actually worse with even greater numbers rushing to hill stations with the easing of lockdown restrictions. Recent images from Manali, Shimla and so on are quite alarming.
The unbearable heat of the plains has made people throw caution to the winds it seems. They want to use the time after the second and before a possible third wave to enjoy a holiday in the hills...
People seem bent on doing what they want regardless of consequences to themselves or to others.
In this video, we see a close-packed street full of people and traffic and a characteristic blare of horns.
People have clearly forgotten the terrible suffering that so many of us have undergone just recently.
They are angry at what they see as government laxity; where visitors are no longer required to provide proof of being COVID negative.
They appear to have forgotten that the coronavirus pandemic is still very much on and that we have just undergone the brutal assault of a virulent second wave.
Experts have been warning us of a third wave. Considering that we did not take warnings of a second wave seriously we should really be listening.
Recently we all saw long snaking queues of cars stuck in traffic jams on route to Shimla. And yet just days later we have even more people rushing to be in these already overcrowded places?
Numbers of infections have gone down, but this was also the case after the first wave. Then we celebrated festivals, organised election rallies and events such as the Kumbh Mela and look where that got us!
Not enough people are vaccinated in India and experts are still struggling to make sense of new variants and efficacy of vaccines against them.
Many of us are doing all that we can to be cautious so that we and others around remain safe because we just want this to be over.
There are many how would rather risk their own health and that of others for a brief trip to Manali. Meanwhile hill stations continue to be exploited in the name of development and we continue to destroy the very hills we claim to love.
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