The first day of the intensified lockdown in parts of Madurai district saw some public movement despite the barricading of arterial roads on Wednesday.
Movement of transport was visible in the morning, but traffic reduced by noon in areas including the Goripalayam junction and Teppakulam. Police personnel stopped violators without face masks and those driving two-wheelers without helmets, but did not limit movement extensively.
Roads near Sellur, bridges across Vaigai river and the Periyar bus stand flyover connecting to Ellis Nagar were all blocked.
The lockdown was enforced in Madurai Corporation, Paravai Town Panchayat, Madurai East, Madurai West and Tirupparankundram blocks following a sudden rise in the number of COVID-19 cases over a week’s time.
The district administration, in consensus with the State government, decided to follow the Chennai's lockdown model and keep the parts of the district under a shutdown for a week between June 24 and June 30.
District Monitoring Officer, B. Chandra Mohan, who arrived on Tuesday, inspected the newly-created COVID-19 treatment facility at the Tamil Nadu Agriculture College (TNAU) on Wednesday. He also convened a meeting with senior officials of the administration including District Collector T. G. Vinay and Corporation Commissioner S. Visakan.
Grocery and vegetable shops saw only a trickle of a crowd. Shopkeepers in East Masi street said that members of the public had crowded at shops and purchased their wares in advance, due to the lockdown on Tuesday.
“Despite the startling number COVID-19 positive cases, people refused to follow physical distancing measures. On Monday before the lockdown was announced, we (shopkeepers) ourselves volunteered to close down our shops by 2 p.m. because we did not want to be infected. The lockdown in some ways is good for our own health. On Tuesday, we saw a lot of panic purchasing,” said M. Somasundaram, who has owned a spice store in the area for around 15 years. Mr. Somasundaram said that only a few people came to his store on Wednesday morning.
Temporary vegetable markets set up by the Madurai Corporation too, saw few crowds. Vegetable prices too saw a drop since Tuesday, as panic buying died down. Tomatoes, which were sold for ₹40 per kilogram were reduced to ₹20 per kg. Potatoes which were sold at ₹60 per kg, were reduced to ₹50. Carrots sold at ₹70 per kg was sold at ₹30 on Wednesday.
Public transportation was suspended across the city.
District administration officials stated that pushcart vendors selling fruits and vegetables can only operate between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m., in a press statement.
