India observes Janata curfew, millions stay indoors

Millions of people across the country stayed indoors,streets wore a deserted look and bare number of vehicles were on the road onSunday in an unprecedented shutdown on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appealfor a ‘Janata curfew’ to help check the spread of coronavirus.

As the 14-hour ‘Janata curfew’ got underway at 7 am, peoplekept themselves indoors as part of the social distancing exercise to help stopthe spread of the virus.

   

All markets and establishments except those dealing inessential goods and services are closed for the day.

The ‘Janata curfew’ will end at 9 pm.

Ahead of the start of the curfew, Prime Minister NarendraModi said, “In a few minutes from now, the #JantaCurfew commences. Let usall be a part of this curfew, which will add tremendous strength to the fightagainst COVID-19 menace”.

He said the steps to be taken now will help in the times tocome.

“Stay indoors and stay healthy,” he said onTwitter.

In the national capital, roads were deserted with barelysome private vehicles and buses plying. Vendors were off the roads in themorning hours with people confining themselves to their homes.

Curfew-like restrictions on the movement and assembly ofpeople were in force in Kashmir as part of the prime minister’s appeal even asthe virtual lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus in the valley enteredits fourth day.

In Kolkata, the usually bustling Esplanade, and Dalhousieareas, besides airport and railway stations wore a deserted look as peoplestayed indoors to support the prime minister’s call.

The Eastern and South Eastern Railway cancelled allmail/express trains originating from the two zones between 4 am and 10 pm onSunday but will run skeletal local train services on the day.

Commercial capital Mumbai observed the restrictions onSunday with the usually bustling western and eastern express highways and otherarterial roads wearing an empty look and people staying indoors to support thecurfew.

In Madhya Pradesh where four districts of Jabalpur, Rewa,Seoni and Narsinghpur have been placed under lockdown, roadside shops andeateries remained closed in the state on Sunday.

The ‘Janata curfew’ call received a good response in Gujaraton Sunday as the entire state was in a self-imposed lockdown to fight thecoronavirus.

Streets were empty and shops and business establishmentsremained shut in the state.

Roads, railway stations and airports in the state’s fourmajor cities – Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot -wore a deserted look onSunday morning.

Tourist destination Goa followed the curfew call withstreets and beaches off the road.

Except for essential services, everything else including busservices, commercial establishments, restaurants, markets and places of worshipwere shut and people remained home.

The Goa Church cancelled its Sunday masses all over thecoastal state to avoid crowding

In solidarity with the prime minister’s call, Tamil Naducame to a virtual standstill with roads, bus and rail stations deserted andretail stores closed.

Although some vehicular movement could be seen in majorroads of the State, these were largely private vehicles and the numbers wereminiscule.

Both State run and private buses, autos and taxis did notoperate in most parts of Tamil Nadu.

Cutting across party lines, chief ministers and othersleaders have urged the people to follow the self-imposed curfew, noting that”social distancing” was key to breaking the chain of transmission, asthe number of coronavirus cases rose to 324 on Sunday.

States like Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Bihar haveannounced either complete or partial lockdown till the month end.

No passenger train from any railway station in the countryhas originated beginning Saturday night and the restriction will continue till10 pm on Sunday while all suburban train services will be reduced to a bareminimum as well. Metro services, including in Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai, hasbeen suspended for the day.

Air carriers like GoAir, IndiGo and Vistara have curtaileddomestic operations on Sunday.

Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) hadannounced that they will keep their establishments shut across the country forthe ‘Janata curfew’.

Modi had on Thursday called for the ‘Janata curfew’ from 7am to 9 pm on March 22, saying no citizen, barring those in essential services,should get out of their houses, and asserted that it will be a litmus test toshow India’s readiness to take on the coronavirus challenge.

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