Kolhapur shut as lockdown begins

KOLHAPUR: The city wore a deserted look on the first day of the seven-day lockdown on Monday as citizens stayed home and shops and stalls remained closed, except those involved in essential services like medicines, milk and newspapers.
Police were deployed in streets and different localities to check if people were moving for emergency purposes or those involved in essential services.
Deputy superintendent of police, Kolhapur, Prerna Katte, said, “Over 750 police personnel are on the ground. Barricades separating roads into double lanes have been removed to convert them into single lanes.”
Since the agencies supplying cooking gas cylinders were allowed to operate, a number of cylinder delivery vehicles were spotted moving swiftly along the deserted roads. Security guards were seen manning commercial establishments and offices.
Superintendent of police Abhinav Deshmukh, who hit the streets on Monday morning, said, “If anyone is seen driving without valid reason, orders have been issued to confiscate their vehicle. The vehicles will be returned only after the lockdown is over.”
Deshmukh said that over 2,300 police personnel have been deployed in the rural parts of Kolhapur district. “The industries in rural areas have been allowed to operate with 50% workers. Directions have been issued to policemen to ensure that people are not obstructed from going to their workplace upon showing their pass or identity cards,” he added.
A senior health official from Chhatrapati Pramila Raje (CPR) hospital said that the effect of the lockdown could be ascertained after a week.
“The lockdown will contain the viral spread, especially in the hotspots, which will give the health staff enough time to ramp up arrangements such as add more beds and recruit more staff,” said the official.
166 new cases, five deaths reported in district.
As many as 166 new Covid-19 patients and five deaths were identified across the district on Monday. Of the total cases, while 39 patients were reported from Ichalkaranji, 35 cases emerged from Kolhapur city. Seven contacts of a doctor tested positive.