CHENNAI: An eerie silence enveloped the bustling streets of Chennai on Friday, the first day of yet another lockdown to contain Covid, which has been spreading like wildfire. In a single day, the city police seized around 2,000 vehicles, collected fine and booked the violators. Over the empty roads though, flights continued to ferry travellers in and out of the city.
Starting Thursday midnight, the police shut down several main roads across the city, restricting the flow of vehicles. Flyovers were also closed down. The arterial Anna Salai, which connects two parts of the city, was cut off after 2 pm. The unannounced changes in vehicular movement made life difficult for essential service providers.
A total of 288 check-posts have been set up across the city. Violators were made to line up in front of sheds where the cops were sitting, while maintaining a distance of 1 metre from each other. A QR scanner was set at a distance deemed safe, and fines were collected through Paytm. Many of those whose vehicles were seized walked their way back home, or worse, hitched rides with others.
People not wearing masks were also pulled up. Drone-couples flew over the city —one keeping an eye over the public through its high-definition camera and the other blaring out announcements. The last-minute ban on sale of fish and meat hit the public and vendors hard. A video of a vendor throwing fresh fish into a dumpster in Villivakkam went viral.
The city borders were sealed shut. The steady stream of residents rushing to leave the city for their hometown ended abruptly on Friday morning. Most of those who have chosen to stay back have shut themselves indoors, hoping the worst of times will fly by.
‘DO NOT HIDE SYMPTOMS’
Terming the next 12 days crucial, Corporation Commissioner G Prakash has requested people not to hide any symptom when Corporation staff come to their doorstep for fever screening