ADILABAD: The Nirmal district administration, in a teleconference with the mandal-level officials on Monday, instructed them to open all the shops and start the MGNREGS work. The Medical and Health Department officials were also asked to run the out-patient ward as usual.

The move is in view of the number of cases being almost nil in Nirmal and Adilabad districts. But even before the decision to keep the shops open, people in the erstwhile Adilabad district had stopped giving two hoots about the lockdown as they have been venturing out and roaming around freely since the last two days.

Besides not maintaining a safe distance from each other, barricades in the containment zones in Adilabad and Nirmal districts have been removed partially to enable the free movement of people and vehicles.
No cases being reported in both the districts in the last few days has emboldened the locals to violate the lockdown rules.

While shops selling essential commodities have been kept open from 6 am to 6 pm, people queue up in front of the post office at Bhainsa in Nirmal district to collect  the `1,500 dole without following the social-distancing norms.

On Monday, the Adilabad bus station saw quite a few people moving around without maintaining any social distancing.