People brace for Sunday lockdown in Dharwad

DHARWAD: With the state government announcing a complete lockdown on five Sundays beginning July 5, the people in Dharwad were seen stocking up essentials on Saturday. Being the first week of the month, many preferred to buy groceries for a fortnight or a month.
Dharwad district has seen a sudden spike in the number of Covid-19 cases and this has caused anxiety among people, particularly the senior citizens.Instead of venturing out for buying essentials, some are also opting for getting the commodities delivered at door step, although they appear sceptical about possibility of getting infected through the delivery boys.
Despite intermittent heavy showers, people thronged the market and bought vegetables, fruits and other essential goods in the morning. The tipplers, who usually buy their quota of liquor in the evenings, decided not to take risk and lined up before the liquor outlets since morning. Though the sale of essential commodities like medicines, groceries, vegetable, fruits, milk and meat will be permitted during the lockdown, people opted to shop on Saturday itself.
Deputy commissioner Nitesh Patil has warned people against violating the prohibitory orders and has instructed cops to act tough on violators.
As per the guidelines, weddings pre-scheduled for Sunday can be held with 50 guests, while funerals can have only 20 guests.
There will be no movement of public transport buses and only government vehicles on Covid-19 duty are allowed. The government has also banned holding any kind of public programmes. Parks and playgrounds too shall remain closed.
The lockdown will be enforced from 8pm on Saturdays to 9am on Mondays. A senior police officer said the police will act tough on those who try to violate the norms by venturing out unnecessarily. “We won’t hesitate to seize their vehicles and file cases, ” he said.