The Spectre of Crowds in the COVID City

Context: Global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many challenges in urban India which require a focussed approach to meet the needs of urban communities. 

Key attributes of urbanisation India:

• Agglomeration, density and crowds have long been definitional attributes of the urban. 
• The scale of the economy: Urbanisation is premised on the scale economies that urban agglomeration affords. 
• Dissolved caste and gender identities: Urban mixings have helped dissolve categories of caste and gender. 
• Promoted Socio-economic Mobility: Allowed historically discriminated groups to forge new identities and assert rights.
• Over-crowding: In urban areas due to scarcity of resources, protests and mass gatherings.

• Chronic scarcity induced by lopsided resource distributions resulted in the push, the rush to reach the counter before rations or tickets run out. 
• Cities have become staging ground for protesting crowds bringing diverse discontents from far afield.
• Ritual or celebratory gatherings regularly take over city streets, sidelining traffic for a public assertion of communal emotions.

Challenges in urban areas during the pandemic:

• The stigmatisation of social density: Social distancing has been embraced by India’s caste society, which was uncomfortable with the mingling fostered by cities. 

• Crowding in markets, mosques, or transport hubs were highlighted as irresponsible.

• Pandemic Mis-Governance: City authorities had failed to anticipate and provide for the inevitable congregations at a large metropolitan market.

• Scarcity-induced panic-buying: among the masses in the urban areas.

• In Tamil Nadu, Koyambedu, emerged as the COVID-19 flashpoint, sending trails of infection across the State.

• Migrant distress:  was the most pronounced legacy of India’s lockdown.

• Miscoordination: Peaceful walkers were turned into agitated crowds by the mal-coordination and opacity of police, district authorities.
• Fundamental breakdown of material and social mobility: Urban poor socio-economic mobility has been hindered and the future remains obscure.
• Exposed fault lines of urban labour value chains: Preference given to Work from home regime while physical labour is being discarded.

Conclusion: As cities open up, safe mass transport arrangements is the need of the hour. Focus on closed and crowded locations is required.