Sunday lockdowns: Too much police checkings become corona heroes’ nightmare

CHENNAI: With the city under total lockdown on Sundays, people who need to go to work are finding the going tough, especially the Covid-19 monitoring personnel in Corporation zones and sanitary workers.

They claim police personnel are stopping them and advising them to stay indoors.

As some of them had kept their identity cards with their uniforms in zone offices, corporation workers found it difficult to convince the police before reaching their respective zones.

With most of the workers travelling from the outskirts of the city, the journey into Corporation zones has  been bumpy. M Ravi, a sanitary worker in Alandur zone, found it hard to commute from his house in Kundrathur.

“The police along the Thiruneermalai road were particular on not allowing residents outside, despite explaining to them and showing the identity card. The police reasoned that no one is allowed to commute,” he added.  

Another staff from Paddapai on anonymity said he had a tough time reaching Alandur, where he carries out door-to-door screening of residents.

“The moment I stepped into the main road in my auto, police stopped me. They asked me for permission letters, and I showed them my uniform and the register we maintain of the residents for recording their temperature. After much deliberation, they allowed me to go.”

He added that with several arterial roads blocked on Sundays, including the subways that lead to respective areas, commuting has become troublesome.

A senior corporation staff averred: “Each staff is provided with an identity card and they can show it to the police concerned for travelling without any hindrance.”