The horrendous second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had tested the efficiency of India's health infrastructure and mechanism to address the unprecedented health crisis. The second wave had put millions into distress as they faced ordeal over accessing the medical treatment for their loved ones. The people had faced an adverse impact in the wake of the severity of the virus spread and they had anguished over the loss of their loved ones. 

The hospitals across the country were flooded, there was a large-scale dearth of the medical oxygen supply, the crematoriums were running out of space, and the territory was disturbed over the peak of the virus and several medical discrepancies. Though India is aiming to beat the pandemic through vaccines, most of the states had imposed strict lockdowns as their weaponry to curb the pandemic spread. 

While most of the states had run into outrages over the government's mishandling in addressing the health crisis, the latest survey has revealed which state is best and worst in handling the second wave of the pandemic. A survey conducted by LocalCircles, a citizens forum active in India, has revealed that Tamil Nadu is the best among the 17 states, in the survey, for its handling of the second wave.

India was reporting lakhs of COVID-19 cases every single day while the wave was at its peak. The country had gone through reporting over 4 lakh cases in a single day with a surging death toll. The intense wave had brought the fractured health infrastructure to light as hospitals had received overwhelming Covid patients for the treatment and some medical facilities had failed to provide adequate treatment. The crematoriums in major cities ran out of space as several bodies were dumped into rivers. 

The survey from LocalCircles had drawn major attention for its significance. The citizens' forum has said, "Overall, the second wave of the pandemic has caused a devastating effect on India and its citizens that will be etched for many years to come." While the survey had declared Tamil Nadu the best state in handling the second wave of the pandemic, it has revealed that West Bengal is the worst state in handling the second wave while Delhi and Bihar had also ranked at the bottom of the table. 

The survey was carried out after the crisis in April and May and it had received 38,991 responses from citizens in 17 states and 383 districts in the country. The responses from the rich and poor people from urban and rural areas and Tamil Nadu has topped the table with 59%. Following Tamil Nadu are the states Andhra Pradesh (54%), Uttar Pradesh (51%), Maharashtra (47%), Gujarat (46%), Uttarakhand (43%), Odisha (43%), Kerala (39%), Rajasthan (36%), and Haryana (34%). 

The final seven states in the table of 17 are Punjab (28%), Madhya Pradesh (28%), Karnataka (25%), Telangana (23%), Delhi (20%), Bihar (20%), and West Bengal (17%). The survey had further revealed that during the time of distress in availing the treatment for the pandemic, many had become the victim of scams and black-marketing. Such scams had targeted several people across the country and many had paid more money to the private hospitals to get treatment for the viral infection. 

The experience of the respondents to the survey had shown that many patients were made to wait incessantly in the hospital for availing of treatment and the lack of timely treatment is a major reason for most of the Covid deaths. In a statement, the LocalCircles said that the objective of the survey was to help both the citizens and the government to understand where things went wrong and the measures to be taken upon in the event of a third wave of the pandemic, which has been predicted to hit the nation in six to eight weeks.