THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The city police have enhanced security measures in the containment zones in the city limits in the wake of a spike in Covid cases. Commissioner G Sparjan Kumar said surveillance has been beefed up in the containment zones to check any violation of Covid protocols and those who are found flouting it will be strictly dealt with.
The Commissioner said all shops except the medical stores and eateries should remain closed in containment zones. The stores selling food items are allowed to function from 7am to 7pm, while Maveli stores, Supplyco outlets and ration shops are allowed to remain open only till 5pm. Home delivery will only be allowed in restaurants and eateries from 7am to 7.30pm. The shops that flout the restrictions will be closed down, added the Commissioner.
In containment zones, online delivery of goods is allowed only from 7am to 2pm. The public markets will remain closed in these areas. Vehicles from outside will not be allowed to enter the containment zones. Only one entrance and exit point will be allowed for emergency and medical services. The police have also decided to conduct inspections in malls and shopping centres to check whether protocol is being followed.
Curbs in ration shops to continue
T’Puram: Ration shops will continue to have reduced working hours. Restrictions were imposed on the distribution since January 13 owing to a technical snag in the server connecting EPoS machines. At present, shops in seven districts are open only in the forenoon and those in the rest of the districts in the afternoons. This will continue until January 25, according to Food Minister G R Anil. This is 35.05 per cent of the total beneficiaries.
Last month the figure was 34.79 per cent in the corresponding period, he said. The reduced timings have not affected distribution, he said in a statement here on Wednesday. The districts where ration shops open only in the forenoon are Malappuram, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad. The functioning hours are from 8.30 am to 12 noon. Shops at Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Kottayam, Kasaragod and Idukki will be open in the afternoon.