Keep COVID-19 at bay, CM Uddhav Thackeray urges people on 75th Independence Day

Warns of re-imposition of lockdown in State if pandemic regulations are not followed and cases rise again.

Pune: With the Maharashtra government’s relaxations in regulations set to take effect from Sunday onwards, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day urged the people of the State and the country to take a resolution to free themselves from the yoke of the pandemic. Mr. Thackeray, in his address after the flag-hoisting ceremony at the State Secretariat in Mumbai, warned that the government would be compelled to re-impose a lockdown in the near future if cases surged again as a result of citizens flouting pandemic norms. “We have not won our Independence easily… It is pointless merely remembering sacrifices of freedom fighters on occasion of every Independence Day. It is our duty to preserve the values of those who have made sacrifices to secure our freedom…In the last 18 months, we have been fighting the scourge of COVID-19 and trying to free ourselves from it. While the State government is relaxing some restrictions from August 16 onwards, I want to remind everyone that the threat is far from over,” the Chief Minister said, remarking that citizens would have to keep following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour to keep the contagion at bay.