Whether or not the lockdown is extended to Phase 5 or relaxed as the month of June unfolds, it is pretty obvious that Mamata Banerjee has taken a bow in the direction of the centres of worship.

At least four religious occasions were either observed or celebrated in the midst of the crippling closure and the holy month of Ramzan, pre-eminently Good Friday, Easter, Poila Baisakh, and Id-ul-Fitr.

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The cancellation of prayer meetings at the Cathedral , the Kali temple and the Maidan have doubtless prompted the Chief Minister’s announcement on Friday to reopen the places of worship from 1 June with a ceiling of 10 devotees at a time.

Never ever were the streets of the city so very deserted at dusk, when roza ends and iftar starts. All offices, both of the government and the private sector, are to resume functioning from 8 June, though there is as yet no clarity on whether all modes of transport will be able to operate normally from 8 June.

This is absolutely essential if the staff has to reach the workplace. Lifting of or relaxation of the lockdown is meaningless in the absence of urban transportation. It is pretty obvious that the Chief Minister has afforded an opportunity to private operators to finalise the revised terms of engagement over next week.

The fact that Kolkata’s Metro ~ the urban lifeline ~ is conducting trial runs each day raises hope, but a firm decision is awaited over the next seven days. Which is not to discount the risk of infections, most particularly in the sealed air-conditioned coaches.

No less crucial must be the suburban train network, on which depend hundreds of thousands of commuters, including daily wage-earners, in the peripheral districts of North and South 24-Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly. Once again, the risk of infections during peak-hour overcrowding is dangerously real.

To fix a ceiling on local train passengers is easier contemplated that accomplished… and without posing a law and order problem. Particularly welcome is the forward movement in the operation of private buses ~ the other lifeline of the city and the districts.

The chief significance of Friday’s announcement must be that the vehicles have been permitted to run with full seating capacity (around 40) ~ up from 20 as previously suggested to maintain social distancing. In parallel, passengers will not be allowed to stand and travel.

It is fervently to be hoped that private bus operators will take a call on the Chief Minister’s suggestion during their meeting on Sunday. The demand that the government must provide hand sanitisers, gloves, and masks to drivers and conductors is fairly reasonable, if fares are not hiked substantially.

Both sides would appear to have reached a halfway-house, but the fare structure, albeit for a temporary phase, may yet be a prickly issue. Altogether, the Chief Minister has unveiled an essay towards normality. It is fervently to be hoped that it will attain fruition.