India on Sunday woke up to empty roads and deserted public places as the ‘Janata curfew’ proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to counter the coronavirus spread began, reports The Hindu.
PM Modi has proposed the day-long curfew between 7am and 9pm as part of social distancing to check the spread of the virus.
People in Madhya Pradesh remained indoors and streets wore a deserted look on Sunday in view of the ‘Janta Curfew’.
Roadside shops and eateries also remained closed in the State.
Four districts — Jabalpur, Rewa, Seoni and Narsinghpur — have already been placed under lockdown since Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 22 requested people to join the ‘Janata Curfew’ to make the fight against COVID-19 a success.
“In a few minutes from now, the #JantaCurfew commences. Let us all be a part of this curfew, which will add tremendous strength to the fight against COVID-19 menace,” the Prime Minister wrote on Twitter.
The city that never sleeps on Sunday woke up to empty roads and deserted public places as the ‘Janata curfew’ proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to counter the coronavirus spread began.
The usually bustling western and eastern express highways and other arterial roads looked empty as people stayed in their homes to support the curfew.
Same was the situation at the suburban train stations which normally see thousands of commuters jostling to get inside the overcrowded trains.
State government authorities had on Saturday informed people that only those engaged in essential services would be allowed to travel in local trains, that too after checking their identity papers.
Public transport is being curtailed in the city on Sunday. Local trains on the Central line will see 60% services as against the normal 70% on Sundays. The Western Railway has cancelled four services, two from Virar to Dahanu Road, and two from Dahanu Road to Dadar and Churchgate.
The Central Railway has cancelled 60 long distance trains across Mumbai division, while the Western Railway has cancelled 40 mail express and 26 passenger trains from Mumbai.
It has also cancelled 477 suburban locals on Sunday.
The Mumbai Metro and Mumbai Monorail will remain suspended for the day, while BEST buses will run according to their holiday schedule, officials said.
Late on Saturday evening, the Divisional Commissioner of Konkan Region declared that the police and State government staff will be present at all stations to ensure that people do not travel unnecessarily and only those engaged in essential services will allowed on local trains.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plea to citizens of the country to clap or ring bells following the sound of a siren to appreciate the work of those leading the fight against the COVID-10 outbreak on Sunday may come a cropper in the financial capital.
The State government may not be able to set off sirens in most places in the city because for the past one year it has been sitting on a proposal from the Director General of Civil Defence to overhaul its war-time emergency public siren system. As a result, only 15 to 20 of the 170 sirens atop government buildings will work at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Similar sirens atop government buildings in Nashik, Pune, Thane and Raigad are not in working condition and may not go off on time, officials said.