Shutdown relaxed in capital

The authorities on Monday relaxed the ongoing shutdown in the capital allowing more vehicles on roads and restaurants to sell iftar items from today while business hours of shops across localities were extended to 4:00pm from 2:00pm amid the spike in coronavirus infections.

The number of vehicles increased on city roads just a day after apparel factories resumed productions in industrial belts in Dhaka and its adjacent areas following a government order despite the risks of further escalation in COVID-19 infections as the disease has already killed 152 people and infected nearly six thousand.

Dhaka neighbourhoods and alleyways will now remain open until 4.00pm as the metropolitan police have extended the shopping time by 2 hours to cope with the surging demand during Ramadan, said DMP deputy commissioner for media Musudur Rahman. 

Restaurants would also be allowed to sell Iftar items from Tuesday maintaining social distancing, DMP official added.

Earlier, the police slapped a ban on iftar bazars in the city, giving it a different look as Ramadan, month of fasting for Muslims, began on Saturday.

More people and vehicles  were pouring into the streets as the government allowed some factories to resume operation, said DMP additional commissioner for traffic Mofiz Uddin Ahmed, referring to the move to relax the shutdown rules. 

No hawkers and street iftar shops would, however, be allowed and grocers and superstore owners would be able to operate until 5.00pm, the DMP official said.

Health experts, however, cautioned about this relaxation of shutdown measures saying that if health rules were not followed, this relaxation would have a disastrous consequence.

Though the coronavirus-infected cases were alarmingly rising in the capital, law enforcers appeared rather lax in enforcing the shutdown measures and the presence of cops had been sporadic on Monday amid a section of the city dwellers showing reluctance in maintaining social distancing norms.

Most of the checkpoints on the main streets and entry points to the capital had thin police presence on Monday as private cars, motorbikes, rickshaws, vans and other vehicles roamed and plied unchecked.

The law enforcers were still struggling to make people stay at home and avoid unnecessary crowding at market places despite different penalty measures, said DMP officials.

Data for DMP showed that over 4,000 vehicles had been fined for violating shutdown instruction and plying unnecessarily in the capital since the beginning of the shutdown on March 26.

DMP officer Mofiz Uddin told New Age that they were fining people, but it was difficult to make some people stay at home.

He said that they were experiencing more vehicles and people on the streets recently as the government allowed some factories to resume operation.

Vehicles from law enforcers, emergency services, transports carrying workers were allowed to operate, rest were under shutdown, he said.

Many vehicles, however, were still plying the roads violating the shutdown order and some of them had been fined, he said.

People from different parts of the country were still arriving in Dhaka and its adjacent areas from other districts after the government decided to allow some RMG factories to resume operation, said police.

Meanwhile, gatherings at kitchen markets continued and remained a big challenge for the authorities.

Overcrowding at Karwan Bazar area was managed to some extent by relocating the kitchen market to a nearby open space, but gathering at Hatirpool, Jatrabari and Mohammadpur kitchen markets continued.

Shoppers and sellers in Khilgaon, Bashabo and Malibagh kitchen markets were also seen flouting all social distancing measures.

Mohsin Hossain, a trader at Kawran Bazar kitchen market, said that wholesale and retail shoppers usually gathered during morning when maintaining social distancing became difficult.

A ban on movement from evening to dawn also remained ineffectual in Dhaka and other districts as people roamed around in streets and alleyways without paying heed to the shutdown order.

Dhaka district administration officials said they fined over 1,300 people for violating the shutdown rules.

The district administration’s executive magistrate Mahnaz Hossain Fariba said that they were fining people, but many were still flouting the rules.

Restrictions on vehicle movements in the capital and elsewhere were announced on March 26 amid police and army deployment.

As the number of daily infection began to see a sharp rise, more districts enforced full lockdown.

As of today, 45 districts are now under total shutdown and around 15 are under partial shutdown.

Bangladesh Health Rights Movement chairman and former president of Bangladesh Medical Association Rashid-e-Mahbub told New Age that if health regulations were not maintained it would cause untold damage.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net