Dehradun:
The statewide lockdown in Uttarakhand was strictly enforced on Tuesday with the administration not allowing even grocery shops to remain open and private vehicles on the roads after 10 am.
The lockdown was imposed on Sunday night to contain the spread of coronavirus outbreak which has infected four persons, including a US national in Uttarakhand so far.
Shops selling essentials and private vehicles had been kept out of the purview of the lockdown so that people are not inconvenienced but crowding on the streets on Monday prompted the government to open them only for three hours in the morning from 7am to 10am.
Heavy barricading was done in towns and cities besides making adequate deployment of police personnel to stop crowding and ask people to return to their homes.
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat appealed to people to stay put for their own safety and that of their families.
“Take a pledge to stay at home for ten days and spend time with your families. Capture the happy moments on your phone and share them,” Rawat said in a tweet.
Tourists in the state were asked to reschedule their travel plans in view of the cancellation of all flights after midnight on Tuesday.
Tourist guest houses in Naukuchiatal and Ganga resort of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam will be available to them on transit to Rishikesh, the tourism department said in an advisory.
The shops selling essential articles downed their shutters after 10 am as ordered and police personnel were seen intercepting people at the barricades to stop their free movement in view of the lockdown.
A report from Karnaprayag in Chamoli district said police personnel took pictures of lockdown violators holding a pamphlet in their hands that read: “I am enemy of society, I won’t stay at home” to build moral pressure on residents not to venture out”.
The Rispana bridge in Dehradun, where daily wage labourers gather every morning looking for work, was devoid of the crowds on Tuesday.
The chief minister had announced on Sunday that Rs 1000 will be paid to every registered daily wage labourer to compensate them for the loss of work during the lockdown period.
However, unregistered labourers were seen gardening, doing carpenter’s or plumbing jobs inside private homes in colonies.
Construction workers were missing from building sites.
All coronavirus patients are admitted in the isolation ward of the the government Doon Hospital.
