After Raichur, Ballari and Kalaburagi too adopt strict steps

People to be barred from buying vegetable and groceries; liquor shops to be completely closed and only parcel services to be allowed in hotels

Infrastructure Development, Haj and Wakf Minister and in-charge of undivided Ballari B.S. Anand Singh announcing lockdown restrictions in Ballari on Tuesday.

Emulating Raichur district which has already imposed more restrictions than specified in the State government guidelines to prevent crowding, Ballari and Kalaburagi districts, which have been witnessing an increased number of COVID-19 positive cases as well as deaths, also imposed similar restrictions that will become effective on Wednesday.

Speaking to presspersons here on Tuesday, Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jyothsna made it clear that a complete lockdown will be imposed for three days in a week — Thursday, Friday and Saturday — as a measure to contain the spread of the virus. “People will be barred from even purchasing vegetable and groceries. Liquor shops will completely be closed. Only parcel services will be allowed in hotels. Only those services that are absolutely essential such as hospitals, ambulances and pharmacies will be allowed to function as usual. These stricter measures are inevitable to curb the spread of the deadly virus. We will decide on continuing the restrictions in the future after gauging the impact of these steps,” Ms. Jyothsna said.

Announcing similar measures for Ballari and Vijayanagar districts, Infrastructure Development, Haj and Wakf Minister Anand Singh, who is also in-charge of undivided Ballari district, said that the people’s movement has been completely banned on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, except for medical services.

“The stricter step is taken as per the recommendations of experts. We are working hard to control the fast-spreading pandemic. We have realised that we have to go a long way in bringing the deadly disease under control. These new and stricter measures are essential to contain the spread of the pandemic,” he told media persons after attending a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the district administrative complex in Ballari on Tuesday.

Substantiating the new steps, Ballari Deputy Commissioner Pavan Kumar Malapati made it clear that even essential services such as sale of groceries and milk between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. every day will be banned for the next three days. He appealed to people to cooperate with the administration in its fight against the pandemic.

“The distribution of foodgrains and other groceries through the Public Distribution System for May has almost been completed. Families that have not received the groceries from the fair price shops will be provided with their quota of foodgrains on their doorsteps,” Mr. Malapati said.

Just after the announcement of stricter restrictions by the Minister and the Deputy Commissioner, Ballari Superintendent of Police Saidulu Adavath warned that cases will be filed against violators. He appealed to people to cooperate with the administration in its efforts to control the pandemic.

“We are seizing around 600 vehicles a day on an average for violating lockdown guidelines. We have filed cases against 320 people in the last 10 days. We will oopt for more stringent steps against violators,” Mr. Adavath said.