BENGALURU: With Unlock 3.0 kicking in from Monday, more restrictions have been eased and normal life resumed in the state as shops, restaurants, malls, private offices and religious places opened up.
In many major cities, vehicles flooded the streets and traffic jams were reported as offices and business establishments have been allowed to function at full strength. In Bengaluru, there was major traffic congestion from 4 pm to 7.30 pm on Cunningham Road, MG Road, St Mark’s Road, Jaynagar, BTM Layout, Koramangla, Electronics City, Indiranagar and Silk Board junction.
To meet passenger demand and learning from Unlock 2.0 experience, the BMTC rolled out 4,500 buses on Monday to cater to passengers and 2,000 buses were stationed at depots on Sunday night itself. According to records, last week 13 lakh people travelled in BMTC bus and this week they are expecting 15 lakh passengers. The buses will run from 5 am to 9 pm with all precautionary measures. Based on demand, services will be increased, the corporation said.
The KSRTC also resumed its inter-district and inter-state services adhering to all Covid-1 norms. By 8.30 pm, it had run 4,500 schedules. Operations to Goa will start from Tuesday while operations to Telangana and Andhara Pradesh have already started. .
Many commercial and business establishments were open till 9 pm and restaurants saw a good crowd with dine-in being allowed. Bars have also been allowed to open from Monday, but not pubs, theatres and cinema halls. Swimming pools, sports complexes and stadia have been permitted to open for training and practice purposes.
While night curfew will continue between 9 pm and 5 am, the weekend curfew has been lifted.
Though many people in urban areas preferred to remain indoors, villagers, mainly farmers thronged the markets in large numbers to purchase essentials for agricultural activities. Basanagouda Patil, a farmer from Sarwad village in Vijayapura district, pointed that, “The monsoon has arrived and there have already been a few good spells of rain.
Agricultural activities, mainly sowing, has picked up and hence, I came to Vijayapura city to purchase seeds and other materials.
”At the Tumakuru market, the prices of vegetables dropped with more produce arriving from neighbouring districts such as Chikkaballapur and Hassan.
Places of worship including the Sharanabasaveshwara temple and Khwaja Bande Nawaz Dargah in Kalaburagi, the Dattatreya temple in Deval Ganagapur, Chandralamba temple at Sannati, Bhagamma temple at Ghattarga in Kalaburagi district, Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala and Kukke Subrahmanya temples in Dakshina Kannada district opened to devotees for darshan with Covid-19 norms in place. The Unlock 3.0 guidelines will be in force up to 6 am on July 19 and all social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions, other gatherings and large congregations, will continue to be prohibited till then.
PROHIBITORY ORDERS IN B’LURU TILL JULY 19
Bengaluru: Following the easing of restrictions, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant on Monday issued prohibitory orders under Section 144(1) of the CrPC which will be in effect till midnight on July 19. Accordingly, assembly of more than four persons in public places, except for the purposes which are exempted by the state government, is prohibited.Though the number of Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru city has come down substantially, it is considered appropriate to impose certain restrictions to prevent any spurt of fresh cases, the order stated.
Mask discipline must, insists Palike chief
Bengaluru: Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta on Monday said the rise and fall in cases depends on how people follow mask discipline. Speaking to the media he said, some relaxations have been given as the number of cases have come down, and curbs can be eased even further if people follow Covid-appropriate behaviour.
“It all depends on mask compliance and vaccination along with social distancing being followed. Then, there will be complete unlock,” he said. He pointed that citizens should not let their guard down and special marshals committees and the police will be keeping a check. All those violating norms will be dealt with sternly.
On the issue of vaccination, Gupta said, so far 50 per cent of the adult population in Bengaluru has taken the first dose. The number can be increased to even 80-85 per cent, provided there is sufficient stock available.
All facilities and infrastructure are in place to ramp up the vaccination drive, but it depends upon availability of doses. Further decisions on increasing vaccination coverage and who to vaccinate will be decided by the government based on the suggestions of the experts, he said.