Coimbatore Corporation has so far sealed five shops, formed flying squads to identify and act against those violating COVID-19 safety guidelines and has planned to impose stringent containment measures.
Physical distancing norms
According to sources, the Corporation on Sunday and Monday sealed four shops in the West Zone for violating the safety guidelines. At three shops near Flower Market, the owners illegally sold flowers even after the Corporation had forbidden them from doing so to ensure maintenance of physical distancing norms.
The officials also shut an ice cream parlour at Edayarpalayam for violations. A paan shop at RS Puram was sealed on Monday after it was found that the owner had a role in customers spitting near the shop’s precinct.
The Corporation’s action in the last two days followed the steps it had taken last week to prevent hawkers near Flower Market from selling fruits, vegetables and other goods by barricading the road margins.
The sources also said that to closely monitor the Flower Market area, the Corporation had joined hands with the Coimbatore City Police constituting five squads of five members each to monitor the Market, Mecrikar Street, Siva Shanmugam Road, Mahaliamman Kovil Street and Langarkana Street.
The Corporation also deployed vehicles with public address system to warn the hawkers and caution the public there on the safety measures to be taken to avoid contracting COVID-19.
Cordoned off
Consequent upon the action sealing the Cross Cut Road showroom of a jewellery chain on June 20, the Corporation barricaded the Gandhipuram 3rd, 4th and 11th Cross streets as the jewellery showroom management had accommodated in lodges there the employees it had illegally transported from Chennai.
The Corporation had already barricaded a few places in the city after a few persons from the areas had reported COVID-19 positive – R.G. Pudur, Peelamedu, Udayampalayam, Kavundampalayam among others.
The sources also said that the Corporation had would soon deploy flying squads across the 100 wards to check COVID-19 safety violations..
The squads would have personnel from the engineering and health wings. They would rush to violation spots and immediately act against the violators.
The Corporation also seemed to be contemplating a re-look at containment measures in that it wanted to cordon off a street or a part of a street or an area instead of a house where positive cases were reported, the sources added.