KOCHI: A day after the district administration imposed a curfew in Aluva municipality and six nearby panchayats following the spike in Covid-19 cases, the rural police on Thursday imposed strict measures to restrict the movement of people in the localities.

The police erected barricades and deployed additional force along all local roads of the municipality as well as the Choornikkara, Edathala, Chengamanad, Karumaloor, Kadungalloor and Alangad panchayats, which have been clubbed into a single cluster alongside the earlier clusters of Aluva municipality and Keezhmad panchayat.

Only people carrying proper passes were allowed to cross the barricades. While wholesale shops were closed after 9am, retail shops were allowed to function till 2pm.

The police also took out a route march in areas like the Cochin Bank junction, Choondi, Thottumugam, Kuttamassery, Uliyannoor, Kunnatheri and Kombara.

“Patrolling was held in rural and municipality areas. We even used drones to monitor people’s movement in rural parts of the district. More stringent actions will be initiated in the coming days,” said District Police Chief (Rural) K Karthik.

Eleven cases were registered and eight persons arrested from Aluva for violating Covid protocol.
As many as 19 cases were registered against people in other rural areas.

‘People not serious’
Despite strict restrictions being imposed in the areas, people continued to venture out of their homes without valid reasons, said District Police Chief (Rural) K Karthik. He said some were coming up with fake reasons to cross the barricades. “We are taking risks to contain the spread of the virus. This will be possible only if people cooperate,” he said.