The Telangana government yesterday took the decision to impose
a ten-day-long lockdown across the state from today to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The lockdown is being implemented from 10:00 am to 6:00 am every day. The curfew norms are relaxed for a four-hour period, between 6:00 am and 10:00 am, to allow the people of the state to step out for daily errands.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. At the meeting, the leaders of the state took the call to implement the lockdown at a time when the state's high court has been
continually faulting the KCR regime for its "failure" to deal with the second wave of the pandemic effectively.
The HC had even pointed out that the recent
night curfew had not been yielding the desired results of bringing down Telangana's case tally - a high number of active cases supports this charge and suggests that the measure has indeed been somewhat ineffectual in containing the pandemic.
The state's administration and the public are both hoping that this new lockdown will be more effective in "breaking the chain" of Covid-19 spread.
Today, on the first day of the lockdown, the streets of Hyderabad wore a deserted look. Commercial establishments across the state, barring those exempted by the state government's orders, were closed by 10:00 am. All other commercial activities have also come to a screeching halt - shops in Ameerpet, Punjagutta and S R Nagar were shut, and Secunderabad's JBS was also empty after the commencement of the lockdown. In an effort to restrict any unnecessary movement, the police have put up barricades at KPHB and other important junctions of the city.
Teams of police personnel were seen monitoring the implementation of the lockdown orders and advising those who had stepped out to avoid doing so as far as possible. Only those requiring medical attention were allowed to move about. Rachakonda Commissioner of Police Mahesh Bhagavath too inspected the Uppal and Medipally areas.
Those who had stepped out of their homes were seen rushing back homes at ten sharp. With a majority of the people being confined to their homes, usually bustling spaces like bus stands and metro stations lay eerily silent. However, the ongoing vaccination and Covid-19 tests have reportedly been proceeding smoothly.
Some state government pensioners were seen waiting at the Suryapet post office for their pensions. Although they reached the post office at 6:00 am, they reportedly had to return home empty-handed as the office remained closed.