A day after the ‘Janata Curfew’, the city has gone into a lockdown mode, after Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has declared lockdown of the entire State.
Thought initially, people started to walk out of their houses and a few non-essential commodity establishments opened up, they were closed down by noon, by the police and district administration.
Based on the State government’s directive, the District Magistrate has already clamped Section 144 across the district, which mean there shall be no gathering of people of more than five at any place.
Based on the directive, all shops, except for those selling essential commodities, were closed and will remain closed till March 31, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Suresh Babu, who was supervising the lockdown near APSRTC Complex.
By afternoon, most part of the city wore a deserted look, similar to Sunday, when people observed the ‘Janata Curfew’ call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Only shops selling essential commodities such as rations, food items, medical shops and milk products will remain open and even vehicles transporting these products will be allowed to ply, said Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar Meena.
In the government sector, apart from group officers all the others were told to work from home or come in shifts as per staggered timings. Officers will be on duty, said a senior official. All means of transport from within and outside the State have been stopped, except for vehicles carrying essential items, said Superintendent of Police Attada Babujee.
All public places have been closed and roads leading to Beach Road, Railway Station, and Allipuram have been barricaded. Checkposts have set up at multiple locations and people venturing out are being questioned and sent back home, unless there is an emergency, said a police officer.
Leave cancelled
Meanwhile, the district and city police has cancelled all leaves and have asked officers and men on leave to join back.
“We not only to lockdown the Allipuram area, from where two positive cases have surfaced, but entire city has to be monitored. We have also put all foreign nationals, who are under home quarantine under surveillance. We also request all persons under home quarantine to cooperate for a few days, till normalcy is restored,” said Mr. Meena.
Panic buying
Though the panic buying has come down at some places, it was seen continuing at some places on Monday.
Speaking to the media at Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences, Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao said that there was no need for panic buying, as essential commodities shops will remain open and supply will be normal. “People need not resort to hoarding,” he said.
S.V. Ramana, Managing Director of Visakha Dairy, said that there is no shortage of milk or milk products, as plants in Visakhapatnam and Rajahmahendravaram are fully operational.
