Lockdown relaxation triggers crowding

05/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,TIRUNELVELI

A view of ‘busy’ Madurai Road in Tirunelveli Junction on Monday. A. SHAIKMOHIDEEN

The lockdown relaxation shockingly opened the floodgates here on Monday with all the roads getting mobbed by the public riding their bikes and cars at will as they did before the pandemic outbreak and more than 90% of the business establishments resuming their operations.

As Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi and Kanniyakumari districts have been categorised as ‘orange zone’ following steep fall in the number of fresh COVID -19 cases, lockdown has been relaxed in these districts. Unfortunately, the relaxation led to the crowding of all roads in these four districts with the bikes and the cars moving around freely.

Special buses were operated from the Vaeinthaankulam new bus-stand for taking health workers to their workplaces in Thoothukudi, Tiruchendur, Tenkasi, Sankarankovil and Papanasam.

In Thoothukudi, the more than 70% of the shops including a few jewellery and the textile showrooms were opened with the people coming out freely for their shopping. As there was no ‘physical distancing’ in any of the shops that transacted business on Monday, Collector Sandeep Nanduri and the Superintendent of Police Arun Balagopalan ordered the closure of the shops.

As similar situation prevailed in Tenkasi and Kanniyakumari districts also, the police had to intervene to bring back orderliness on the roads.