COVID-19 lockdown: Over 350 detained in 24 hrs in Guj

Over 350 people were detained

for violating the COVID-19 lockdown in the last 24 hours in Gujarat, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Those detained include people who violated home quarantine norms, director general of police Shivanand Jha said.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown on Tuesday, Gujarat has been under lockdown since Monday midnight.

Speaking to reporters in Gandhinagar, Jha said, "The police are doing their best to enforce the lockdown strictly. People have also come forward to give their full cooperation to make it a success."

The police and local administration have ensured that essential services, including grocery and medicine shops, are not affected, he said.

 

"In the last 24 hours, we have lodged 151 cases for lockdown violations and 89 of quarantine violations. In all, we have detained 353 persons across the state," the senior official said.

The biggest challenge for the police is to enforce social distancing at grocery stores and supermarkets, and to tackle the problem, shop owners were asked to issue tokens to customers to prevent congestion.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel chaired a high-level meeting to discuss the present situation and issued necessary orders for smooth supply of essential commodities, secretary at Chief Minister's Office Ashwani Kumar said.

At present, around 3 crore litre of milk is being produced in Gujarat every day, of which 55 lakh litre is distributed in the state, he said, adding that 53,000 quintals of vegetables arrive in the markets of Gujarat every day.

"To ensure uninterrupted supply of these essential items, senior officials will be appointed to supervise milk and vegetable supply," Kumar said.

The police will be roped in to ensure that local vendors do not face any problems while transporting milk and vegetables, he added.