CHENNAI: Tuesday night in Chennai had a village-like calmness with traffic noise almost dying out after 10 pm. The police, too, increased vigilance while private bus associations have cancelled their services. While some stepped out for a night show before the curfew, others went on a long drive and hotel associations are in fear of losing business. Over the past 12 days, the city police have booked 1,443 people for violation of social distancing and face masks collecting Rs 2.65 lakh as fine amount.
Speaking to Express, a senior police officer said that since Tuesday night being the first day of curfew, the subordinates are asked to go easy on the public. City police commissioner Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal said they have installed checkpoints at about 200 places and over 2,000 personnel will be deployed.
Private bus owners associations, which promised to provide services on Monday, however announced that they have cancelled their services. V Senthil Kumaran from Chennai, had gone to visit his brother in Hosur along with his family. They were planning to return on Wednesday and booked tickets in a private bus. “Without the night travel I have to look for a morning journey. On Monday again, I booked four tickets in a private bus for my morning journey. Now, I have to look for a government bus,” he said.
While the Koyambedu bus terminus had it’s normal day with people taking their buses to their hometowns, the Central Railway station was filled with hundreds of migrant workers who were returning to their cities in fear of complete lockdown. The buses moving in and out was scarcely filled with people. Drivers and conductors said buses allotted for night journeys have been transferred for daylight journeys, thus increasing the number of buses.
Unhappy with the night curfew, several hotel owners Express spoke to said that they are going to concur loss they cannot bear. M Venkadasubbu, president of Hotel owner’s association, said, “Most of the people in the city are dependent upon the hotels for night food. How can a person who leaves office by 9 pm have his food and reach home by 10 pm? The government could have given an hour extension for hotels alone.” Speaking about parcel services on Sundays, he said that the initiative might come hard on the delivery persons as they have to deliver large numbers of orders.