Section 144 will be strictly enforced from now on, says chief minister

₹1,000 At Doorstep, No Salary Cut

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:04.04.2020

Upset over a few sections of people not taking prohibitory orders seriously – despite the state recording 102 fresh cases in a day, taking the tally to 411 -- Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has warned that the government will enforce it more stringently from now on, as it is left with no choice.

He also said the state government will deliver the Covid-19 cash dole of ₹1,000 to beneficiaries at their doorsteps, along with the tokens for free ration goods. Palaniswami also clarified that the government will not resort to salary cuts for its staff.

The chief minister said the government had allowed the movement of essential commodities despite lockdown orders, but people set out to purchase the goods daily instead of weekly. “It is the responsibility of the people to abide by the orders. No matter how much you say, a few don’t listen at all. Law will take its course from now on. The state has extended as much cooperation as possible, but if the people fail to utilise it, there is no choice but to enforce the order stringently,” the chief minister told reporters here.

Despite his instructions in a video conference with the district collectors on March 26 to deliver the cash at doorstep, it remains unclear as to why the authorities allowed crowding near PDS outlets when the distribution began on Wednesday.

The Union home ministry has directed states to take strong action against violators of prohibitory orders.

Palaniswami said the government had been patient, and added that the order was not to harass people but to protect everyone. “It is a deadly infectious disease. A few people playfully move on two-wheelers and cars unaware of the impact of the disease. Doctors say there is no vaccine for the virus infection,” he said, seeking the support of people for lockdown measures against the spread of Covid-19. The government has filed 45,000 cases of violations so far. At least 50,393 people were arrested and let out on bail, and 37,760 vehicles were seized. Police registered 92 cases for spreading rumours on coronavirus and arrested

95. “Even as majority of the commercial and industrial establishments are under closure due to lockdown, affecting the GST collection severely, the state government would not resort to salary cuts of its staff for now,” the CM said. He announced ₹3,000 cash support for accredited journalists.

It is the responsibility of the people to abide by the orders. No matter how much you say, a few don’t listen at all. Law will take its course from now on. There is no choice but to enforce the order

Edappadi K Palaniswami | CM

‘Door delivery of relief not possible’

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government told Madras high court that door-to-door distribution of Covid-19 relief materials to ration card holders in the state is practically impossible as electronic machines which store such records cannot be moved from place to place. However, measures to maintain social distancing at the time of distribution of such essential items are being followed by opening sufficient number of distribution centres, additional advocate-general PH Arvindh Pandian said. The government made the submission on the PIL moved by advocate G Rajesh seeking door-to-door distribution such materials to avoid crowding in PDS shops in view of Covid-19 outbreak. Recording the submissions, the bench directed the state to file a detailed counter affidavit and adjourned the hearing to April 9. TNN

9K CARD HOLDERS

PDS shops denying, ration, promised dole: Perumbakkam locals

Ramesh.R@timesgroup.com

Chennai:04.04.2020

Chaos prevailed at the tenements of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) in Perumbakkam on Friday after fair price shops in the locality refused to provide the entitled free ration for family card holders.

K Malar, a resident, said the fair price shop failed to distribute 5kg of wheat. “We received only 15kg of rice but wheat was not provided on Friday. However, we got a SMS stating that all the ration, including wheat, was issued to our family card,” she said. The homemaker said the ration was essential as her husband, a mason by profession, couldn’t take up jobs due to the lockdown to fight Covid-19. This is, however, not the first time such an issue has cropped up, Malar said. “This has been the case at this particular fair price shop for several months now. We cannot understand why the employees refuse us the promised ration when the government has ensured adequate stock, especially during such crisis.”

The civil supplies and consumer protection department kick-started the distribution of free ration — 15kg of rice, 5kg of wheat, 2kg of sugar, 1kg of tur dal, 1L of palmolein oil for April, besides a dole of ₹1,000 for every family card holder, as assistance during the lockdown. The TNSCB blocks at Perumbakkam has six fair price shops with each shop accounting for about 1,500 family card holders.

Muthukrishnan, another resident of Perumbakkam, complained that employees of fair price shops are compelling cardholders to buy things such as soap and tea packets, costing anywhere between ₹60 and ₹100, while distributing the dole of ₹1,000. Only if the commodities are bought are the cardholders given the dole, Muthukrishnan added — a complaint made by many residents of the tenement.

When contacted, official sources with Sholinganallur zone of civil supplies and consumer protection department said staff have been directed to distribute the entire free ration to beneficiaries. “We have not received any complaint but we will follow it up,” an official said.

Asymptomatic TJ cluster spurs research on virus strain in TN

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:04.04.2020

Curious over why more than 80% of the participants of the Tablighi Jamaat conference in Delhi who tested positive show no symptoms, the Tamil Nadu health department has asked virologists to study the strain and its virulence.

“We have isolated and tested almost all those who participated in the conference. Many who tested positive show no signs of having the virus,” said health minister C Vijayabaskar. “And others have only mild symptoms. We see this outside the cluster as well. So far, we have had one death. They respond to antiviral drugs; didn’t require ventilators,” he said.

Experiences shared by experts from other states with Tamil Nadu differed considerably. “We don’t know why Maharashtra had more than 40 deaths and Kerala had more than 30,” he said Scientists from health and veterinary sciences departments will study if the virus had mutated to be less virulent in the region. Researchers will collect data from samples from infected patients and their families and neighbours. “It can give us important information in our fight and help us prevent the spread,” said Vijayabaskar, a doctor himself. Experts from across the globe are sequencing the virus’s genome to monitor changes.

Too early to study strain as cases yet to peak, says expert

The Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium has been given £20 million for the project. Scientists in the US, Spain and Italy have also been working on the genetics of the virus.

“All viruses mutate over time, some faster than others,” said Dr V Ramasubramanian, infectious disease consultant at Apollo Hospitals. “Covid-19 is a very young one on the list. There is no evidence to show the strain we see here is different,” he said. Nevertheless, as a practicing physician, he no longer sees fever, a dry cough and fatigue as tell-tale symptoms of the infection. “I see patients with no cough having a bad congestion. Some of them even tolerate low oxygen saturation,” he said.

The matter of asymptomatic Covid-19 patients was discussed at the task force meeting chaired by chief secretary K Shanmugam on Friday. “It is important to study if there is a reattachment or modification in the virus we see among the clusters here,” said former city health officer Dr P Kuganandham, a member of the task force.

Asymptomatic transmission isn’t new. “While it is good to study, it may be too early to celebrate. We are not yet at the beginning of the peak we are going to see,” said a senior virologist at Christian Medical College in Vellore. Predictions done by the health department using mathematical models estimate we may have up to 1lakh hospitalisations during the peak period.

WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said while children in several Chinese households remained asymptomatic transmitters, some can be presymptomatic. These are people who unwittingly spread the virus before they have symptoms. Scientists in Japan pointed out that this presymptomatic transmission is happening at a more rapid rate now than it did during SARS.

Health secretary Beela Rajesh said the department is taking no chances. All people in quarantine will remain there for 14 days, she said. “We are working out containment plans, tracking epidemiological graphs and studying the virus. Our doctors, beds, ICUs and ventilators are on standby. We just hope we don’t have to use them,” she said.

Civic body to close meat stalls if social distancing rules broken

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:04.04.2020

Want to eat meat? Maintain social distancing. That’s the message the city corporation wants to send out to Chennaiites.

Following reports of overcrowding at meat and fish stalls, Greater Chennai Corporation commissioner G Prakash said shopkeepers would be held responsible for customers crowding or breaking social distancing norms. “If meat stalls or fish stalls function without any social distancing, they will be sealed instantly,” he said. On Monday, such stalls will remain closed owing to Mahavir Jayanthi.

The Commissioner said it had come to his notice that some stalls were selling mutton and beef without the official slaughterhouse seal of GCC. Such stalls will be sealed and criminal action taken, the commissioner said.

Last weekend, officials were concerned over the number of people who crowded to buy meat and fish across the city. “Social distancing went for a toss at several places, forcing us to announce that Marina Loop road fish market will remain closed until lockdown,” said an official. Similar announcements were expected at some major markets too, but the civic body chose to not take the step. “But if norms are again violated, we will have no option,” said the official.

Some municipalities have announced closure of meat shops till the end of the lockdown period. While the Avadi corporation shut down a fish market last week, Thiruverkadu municipality announced that all meat and fish stalls within its limits will have to remain closed until April 14.

“While social distancing was followed at vegetable markets, the same was not followed at meat stalls. We could not station an official at each stall through out the working hours. So we asked that all stalls be shut till the end of the lockdown. The shops were allowed to home-deliver for customers, if needed,” said Avadi municipal commissioner S Senthil Kumaran.

Corpn begins enforcement of stricter norms to check spread at micro level

Steps Include Barricading 20 Streets With 600 Houses

Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com

Chennai:04.04.2020

As part of its micro-containment plan, Greater Chennai Corporation has started enforcing stricter lockdown regulations in areas where clusters of Covid-19 positive cases have been found, senior officials said on Friday.

These include barricading around 20 streets with some 600 houses and going door-to-door to exhort people not to come out. Some of these areas include Pudupet in North Chennai, Saidapet in Central Chennai and Madipakkam in South Chennai. In one area in North Chennai, a senior official said, three members of a family had tested positive.

In Teynampet zone, a civic body official used a public address system to appeal to people to stay put in their homes, said C R Balaji, a resident of the neighbourhood.

In places like Pudupet, policemen were deployed at the entrance of barricaded streets to keep a check on those venturing outside. They were making continuous announcements using drones asking residents to stay indoors. Officials used autorickshaws fitted with public address systems to go around the area asking residents to cooperate. Police also had a list of people residing in each house to ensure they stayed indoors. People were not allowed to gather outside their houses.

“This doesn’t mean people will not be allowed to come out. They can go out for buying essential commodities, but as such movement of other people through that area will be stopped,” an official said. This is being done to avoid the spread of infection, if any, he added.

These regulations are in force in 12-14 localities across the city. The civic body had last week started a containment plan wherein homes of Covid-19 positive patients would be marked as epicentres and 2,500 houses around them would be taken as a focus area. Every such house would be inspected on a daily basis to track fever cases.

In some parts of the city this containment drive has yielded only a few ‘flu’ cases and some other cases of cases. “In case they show symptoms, we refer them to the nearest health centre for a check-up with the doctor,” an official said.

(With inputs from Sindhu Kannan)

People outside a ration shop in Chinthdripet to collect dole of ₹1,000 and ration items

Curfew violation: Police register 876 cases in 24 hours

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:04.04.2020

The city police impounded at least 687 vehicles for violating the prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC and not following traffic rules in the 12 hours from 6am on Thursday.

Police slapped 876 cases against violators in the last 24-hour period from 6am on April 2 to 6am on April 3. Police impounded at least 358 vehicles including 337 bikes, nine cars and 11 autorickshaws in the city during the same period.

The Chennai police registered 1,262 cases of traffic violation against people roaming on the city roads for the same period. Police booked at least 698 cases for riding bikes without wearing helmet. Police impounded 462 bikes, five cars and 14 autorickshaws from the traffic violators in the 24-hour period.

Across the state so far, police booked 55,427 people and arrested about 54,817 and impounded 40,903 vehicles for violating the lockdown measures. They have collected more than ₹17 lakh fine from violators.

STRICT MEASURE: Police impounded at least 687 vehicles for violating prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC and not following traffic rules from 6am to 6pm on Thursday

In the state so far, police have collected more than ₹17 lakh fine from violators

Tankers tweaked in Tambaram to spray disinfectant

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:04.04.2020

Without waiting for special machinery to spray disinfectants, officials of Tambaram municipality have found an ingenious way to cover more area in their jurisdiction with limited resources.

A brainchild of commissioner—in-charge M Karuppiah Raja, who is an engineer, the system works by attaching pipes to a motor fitted to the power take-off (PTO) system of tanker lorries to spray the disinfectant from the rear of the vehicle. PTO is a means for taking power from a power source, such as a running engine, and transmitting it to another machine; it is usually found in trucks and tractors.

“We began using two tankers filled with disinfectant liquid to spray onto the roads and walls of houses. The operations began on Wednesday and we covered 70 % of the municipality that day,” said M Karuppiah Raja, commissioner-in-charge. A tanker each was used for the western and eastern neighbourhoods of the municipality.

Raja said the tankers could cover up to 20km a day. “We sprayed around 80,000 litres of disinfectant in a day. Our initial focus is on covering neighbourhoods where people were asked to be on compulsory home quarantine. We will move to other areas soon,” Raja said.

For the roads where a tanker lorry could not pass through, load autorickshaws are used. For now, two tankers have been fitted with these makeshift contraptions and more such tankers will be hired and modified if necessary, said another official.

Municipal workers are also using hand-held sprayers to frequently disinfect public places and residences.

NOVEL APPROACH: The system works by attaching pipes to a motor fitted to the power take-off (PTO) system of tanker lorries to spray the disinfectant from the rear of the vehicle