Nagpur: The 1pm restriction for stand-alone essential shops and vegetable vendors, along with stricter enforcements by cops and city civic personnel on day 2, seemed to have had a deterrent effect on people as well as vehicular movement in the city on the third day of extended restrictions. With rise in the Covid cases, the authorities displayed more desperation to enforce the stricter restrictions.
People movement is expected to further come down after city police chief Amitesh Kumar turned on the heat on private establishments asking employees to turn up, in violation of restrictions. “We checked 25 offices and registered offences against one at Sitabuldi till 4pm. Action was also taken against a small mall at Dhantoli,” said CP.
City police, under his supervision, detained 824 vehicles and Rs1.83 lakh fine recovered, 423 cases of not wearing masks were registered, along with 784 for social distancing.
In the afternoon, Zonal DCP Neelotpal raided snacks vendor at Jaripatka following a tip off, and initiated strict action. It’s learnt the place is also connected to cricket bookie Pankaj.
After the initial rush of office goers on the roads, the streets started looking deserted as the day progressed and temperature also started soaring, till the evening. Madan Gupta, a local trader of Sabji Mandi locality in Itwari, lauded the police efforts and also the nuisance detection squad (NDS) of NMC, as his lane wore a deserted look.
“The vegetable vendors were removed from the roads and rest of the shops were not allowed to even open furtively by the NDS teams, which enforced restrictions at Itwari in a strict way,” he said.
NDS team from Dharampeth zone also sealed the premises of interior designer Monika Patel and Associates, at Neeti Gaurav Apartment, Central Bazaar Road, for defying Covid-19 lockdown. An FIR has also been filed against the firm, said NDS commandant Virsen Tambe.
The NDS team also levied a Rs5,000 fine on Bank of Maharashtra manager after long queues of account holders were found standing without physical distancing.
The civic cops from Ashi Nagar zone imposed a fine of Rs5,000 on a person for violating home quarantine rule. The NDS team from Satranjipura zone too imposed Rs20,000 fine on two families after they were found defying Covid-19 protocols during marriage ceremonies in their houses.
Rajkumar Jumani, owner of Mohanlal Laxmandas Kirana Shop at Mahal, said there was some rush between 10.30am and 12.30pm at his outlet but later it trickled out. “If authorities have taken a decision to keep the corona cases under check, we must support it,” he said.