Crowded alleys, kitchen markets concern

More people and vehicles came out on roads across the country on Saturday, the third day of the fresh Covid restrictions, ignoring the warning of and fines imposed by the law enforcing agencies.

Kitchen markets in many places and cattle markets in some places became overcrowded on the day while neighbourhoods and alleys saw a heavy presence of  people amid a lack of monitoring and patrolling by the law enforcers there.

The police in Dhaka city have arrested highest 621 people until Saturday evening for flouting the Covid restrictions, taking the number of people who have been detained to 1,491 in the past three days.

Most of the detainees have been released after the courts concerned imposing fines on them.

Some 346 more people were fined Tk 1,06,450 by mobile courts for the violation of restrictions, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police additional deputy commissioner for media Iftekhairul Islam.

Vehicle owners were also fined Tk 19,22,550 in 885 cases for violating traffic rules and running private vehicles during the restrictions.

The Rapid Action Battalion also fined 277 people Tk 1,98,175 for the violation.

The arrests and fines were mostly imposed for the violation of restrictions on main roads.

In Sylhet, owners of 116 vehicles and 26 people were fined and 94 cases were filed for restriction violations, reported New Age Sylhet correspondent.

In Chattogram, nine vehicles were seized and nine cases were filed.

Twenty-five people were fined for the violation of restrictions in Patuakhali and 23 in Barishal, reported New Age Barishal correspondent.

Alleys have become a concern in the enforcement of the restrictions as huge crowd gather there, including at tea stalls, without maintaining social distancing and wearing masks.

The Rapid Action Battalion said that they would start patrolling in alleys and shut down makeshift shops and tea stalls.

 ‘We urge citizens not to gather in neighbourhoods and alleys. We are starting special raids in these areas to ensure the restrictions,’ said Khandaker Al-Moin, RAB media wing director, in a briefing on Saturday.

DMP Gulshan division deputy commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakraborty said that they had deployed motorbike vigilance teams, which would petrol in alleys to ensure the restrictions, as police vigilance cars often could not enter narrow lanes and by-lanes.

But the police keep arrested people in cars and take them to police stations and courts hardly maintaining any social distancing.

Health experts said that the major objective of the enforcement of restrictions and arrests by the police was to ensure implementation of the Covid health guidelines but things might get even worse if the police could not maintain the health directives.

The Banani police arrested seven people for Covid violations Saturday afternoon and stashed them in a police van where four police and Ansar personnel also boarded for guarding the detainees.

Gulshan DC Sudip said that they did not have enough cars or prison vans to maintain social distancing but they were sending arrestees to the court immediately so that the police stations did get overcrowded.

The law enforcers said that people gave many excuses and often did not care about the restriction guidelines.

A mobile court fined some flat owners Tk 5,000 in the capital’s Khilkhet area for arranging a feast Saturday afternoon amid the Covid restrictions.

Another mobile court fined a person in Shahbagh in the afternoon for flouting the restrictions as he came from Lalbagh to see how the restrictions were going on.

In Dhaka, the number of vehicles, especially rickshaws and private cars, increased on the streets compared with that of the previous day.

Traffic inspector Rafiqul Islam at the Jahangir Gate said that the number of vehicles was higher on Saturday than the last two days but the police were also active and allowing only those who had valid reasons to come out.

The government imposed the seven-day restrictions from July 1 to contain the surge of Covid infections across the country.  The restrictions will continue until July 7 midnight.

Kitchen markets in the city remained open, with the government allowing them to operate from 8:00am to 5:00pm in open places.

But most of the shops remained in the markets, where many people gathered without maintaining social distancing and wearing masks.

Cattle markets were set up in different places, including Enayetpur of Sirajganj, Rajnagar of Panchagar, Gauripur of Mymensingh and Nabiganj of Sylhet, ignoring the restrictions  

Public transports stayed off the roads as per the government directives.

Many people, however, continued to leave the capital for their homes on peddled-rickshaws and pickup vans.

Ferries on major water channels were seen transporting only vehicles engaged in emergency services and carrying goods while the terminals wore a deserted look due to the absence of travellers.

New Age Manikganj correspondent reported that the Dhaka-Aricha Highway hardly saw any motorised vehicles throughout the day and Aricha and Paturia ferry terminals did not experience any rush.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/142756/crowded-alleys-kitchen-markets-concern