Lockdown was almost total in Salem and Namakkal districts on Sunday.
May be of prior experience, minimal vehicles were found on roads including vehicles for weddings and emergency purposes.
Weddings happened outside a few temples and at a few wedding halls in Salem. Civic body officials checked for adherence of COVID-19 safety protocols at the halls. Police personnel had set up barricades at important junctions and at district borders. Salem City police officials said check points had been set up in limits of all 14 police stations and vehicles were checked.
Deputy Police Commissioner M. Chandrashekaran said, “as instructed by City Police Commissioner Santosh Kumar, about 400 personnel have been deployed as part of the lockdown. People are cooperating well and we did not find any unnecessary movements. People going for weddings were checked for invitation cards and were advised to follow safety protocols.” He added that hotels were operating only for takeaways.
Grocery shops also remained closed on the day and only milk delivery services and milk booths functioned. Though farmer markets functioned, it wore a deserted look and farmers were disappointed due to poor sale. Salem district police deployed over 800 police personnel and 27 check posts were set up. As many as 215 cases were registered for not wearing masks. Persons travelling to industries were allowed to proceed after checking their IDs.
In Namakkal, very minimal vehicle movement was noticed on roads. Including border check posts,15 check points were set up by the police.
Krishnagiri
In Krishnagiri, the streets wore a deserted look and only essential services were available. As many as 1,400 police personnel were deployed as part of containment measures and 44 check posts were set up including 30 new check points. Motorists moving unnecessarily were warned by the police. In Dharmapuri, lockdown was almost successful and only essential commodities were permitted.
The police had set up 69 check points at various parts of the district and over 1,000 personnel were deployed. The police had registered about 36 violation cases until evening.