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Delhi lockdown: Few cars, people on roads

March 23, 2020 15:58 IST

There were few vehicles and people on the roads in Delhi on Monday as many stayed indoors on the first day of the lockdown in the national capital to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

IMAGE: A man wearing a protective mask walks on a bridge at a railway station during lockdown by the authorities to limit the spreading of coronavirus disease in New Delhi. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

>On the borders, police conducted thorough checks and advised people to return to their residences. Doctors, patients going to hospitals, media personnel and those involved in essential services were allowed to go.

Most of the shops were shut, but dairies, grocery shops, chemists, petrol pumps, ATMs remained open. Metro, autos, taxis and cab aggregators have already suspended their services due to the lockdown.

Indraprastha Gas Ltd shut down nearly two-third of its dispensing outlets in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad as most vehicles went off the roads.

The firm has some 155 self-operated compressed natural gas stations in the National Capital Territory. The CNG dispensing operations at petrol pumps as well as Delhi Transport Corporation depots will continue unhindered.

AIIMS-New Delhi said it would shut down its outpatient department, including speciality services and all new and follow-up patients' registration from Tuesday till further orders.

IMAGE: A police official checks ID cards of commuters on Delhi-Ghaziabad border after lockdown, in New Delhi. Photograph: Arun Sharma/PTI Photo

The lockdown come on a day the Aam Aadmi Party government presented its first budget after registering a landslide victory last month.

"Delhi has 30 cases. Twenty-three are those who have returned from abroad, seven are their family members who have been infected," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.

"Currently, the situation is under control. Lessons from other countries state that if strictness is not adhered to, things can go out control. This is why there is a lockdown so that the situation does not go out of hand," Kejriwal said.

IMAGE: Metros are seen parked at a yard after lock down, at Timarpur in New Delhi during the lockdown. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo

The Health and Family Welfare department had issued a detailed order on Sunday, notifying the lockdown in the whole of Delhi, stipulating various restrictions.

It includes no operation of public transport, including private buses, taxis, auto-rickshaws, e-rickshaws. All shops, commercial establishments, factories, workshops, offices weekly markets will be closed.

All motorable and non-motorable borders of Delhi with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been sealed. Movement of interstate buses trains and Delhi Metro trains will be closed.