Sunday lockdown turns streets empty in Bhopal, two other MP cities

Bhopal: People in Bhopal, Indore and Jabalpur woke up to a quieter outdoor and deserted streets on Sunday as the coronavirus-triggered lockdown came into force in these three cities of Madhya Pradesh.

In view of the spurt in coronavirus cases, the state government had on March 19 announced lockdown in these three cities every Sunday till further orders. Accordingly, the lockdown came into force at 10 pm on Saturday and will remain in force till 6 am on Monday.

A night curfew was already in place in Bhopal and Indore districts between 10 pm and 6 am since Wednesday.

Due to the lockdown, the kiosks selling packaged milk as well as petrol pumps remained closed in Bhopal on Sunday.

Only the local vendors were allowed make home delivery of milk till 10 am. However, chemist shops and hospitals were open.

This is after 196 days that a complete lockdown is in place in Bhopal again.

But it is for the first time in the state capital that even petrol pumps, grocery shops, milk booths and vegetable markets are shut during the lockdown.

Last year, all these establishments and outlets used to operate during the lockdown.

However, the Bhopal City Link Limited (BCLL) buses plied on the streets exclusively to ferry the candidates appearing for the MP Public Service Commission examination at five centres in the state capital.

On Saturday, 345 infection cases were reported in Bhopal, which took its caseload to 46,728, while Indore saw 317 cases, where the tally rose to 63,827.

A total of 116 fresh virus cases were reported in Jabalpur, which pushed the total count to 17,464 last evening.

Madhya Pradesh on Saturday reported 1,308 COVID-19 cases, taking its tally to 2,74,405, while two deaths increased the toll to 3,903.