Bengaluru: Even though the government’s new guidelines allows only essential services to remain open from 6am till 2pm in Bengaluru, several ‘non-essential’ shops across the city have started operations after the government relaxed the lockdown rules from June 14. While nod had been given to only those establishments providing material to construction and other related industries, the city saw hardware and garments store reopen since Monday.
“We run an engine oil shop. The guidelines are not clear whether we belong to establishments allowed to remain open. There was no one to ask either. So, we opened our shop on Monday. A garment shop next to us and the automobile store few streets away are opened as well. That evening, officials fined the garment store but didn’t say anything to us. So, we now assume that we are allowed to be open,” said a shopkeeper who didn’t want to disclose his name and location.
Several shops opening on Monday and the lack of clarity on the guidelines has kicked off a chain reaction, where more shops are opening across the city. This has also resulted in several people returning to the city to re-join work.
City authorities expressed concerns over the surge in people returning to Bengaluru from various parts of the state since the lockdown restrictions were removed. “While the number of cases in Bengaluru has come down, the influx to the city could result in another spike in Covid-19 cases,” said a Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) official on Thursday
Pointing out that one of the reasons why the lockdown restrictions have not been lifted in some districts is because the positivity rate there is high, and the free movement of people could affect the city’s current status on Covid-19, the senior BBMP official said, “Even though the regulations allow only emergency travel, there is hardly any checking. Police are allowing people to come through without any checks at the city borders.”
For the first time in over two months, on Tuesday, Bengaluru’s daily infection count dropped below 1,000 as it recorded 985 new Covid-19 cases. Bengaluru recorded 1,209 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, according to the state health department. The city also witnessed 1,510 recoveries that brought down the active caseload to 78,943.
According to officials in the know of the developments, BBMP has asked the government to continue with the restrictions on intra-city travel till the positivity rate across the state comes down.
Bengaluru city police commissioner Kamal Pant, who had issued prohibitory orders across the city on Monday, however, on Thursday said there were some practical difficulties in the implementation.
“The government has allowed garment factories, construction activities, private companies and others to operate. This means there is a large number of people on the road. The garment factories account for around one million workers. It is not possible to check every vehicle on the road when the volume is high and these industries need to restart work,” Pant said.
He added that even on the main highways leading to the city, there was a large movement of people from different districts. “Once again, the numbers are high here. We are conducting as many checks as possible but in some cases, where there is a pile-up, we have to allow traffic. It is the government’s decision to open these industries and these workers are critical for it,” he added.
