Agencies

While many states are against entire districts being put in red zones due to presence of containment zones, some want that right of demarcation of zones be transferred to states.

As the three-phase lockdown nears its end and Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised lockdown 4.0 will be "in a new avatar", states are wary about zoning parameters. While many states are against entire districts being put in red zones due to presence of containment zones, some wanted that right of demarcation of zones be transferred to the states.

Even some BJP-ruled states like Assam and Haryana seem to have gone against Central lockdown advisories and thus seemingly joined the chorus of Opposition ruled states like that of Rajasthan and West Bengal to let states decide what's best for themselves.

After the Centre had allowed certain relaxations in terms of economic activities mid-April, Kerala went on to demarcate seven districts, including Kottayam as either green or orange zones. However, the Centre disagreed as 22 of the 88 hotspots in the state were from the seven districts.

Unaware about the miscommunication between the Centre and the state, many came to the streets giving law enforcement agencies a nightmare to undo the damage.