Fortnight long complete lockdown begins in Tamil Nadu

Chennai : After partial lockdowns and full lockdown on Sundays, a fortnight-long lockdown began in Tamil Nadu from May 10 to May 24. With the government providing time to stock essentials including groceries and medicines, no heavy rush was witnessed in shops on Sunday.However, the TASMAC shops of Tamil Nadu witnessed huge sales on Saturday and Sunday with the business in two days across the state crossing Rs 900 crore as several tipplers rushed to stock up for the two-week long lockdown.Roads in Chennai were not much deserted as people with exemptions were seen travelling including journalists, health care workers, construction workers, food delivery agents, etc. There are no bus services and even government departments have not made it mandatory for the staff to go to office unless it is of a very important nature.Police across the state were busy verifying the details of those who ventured out of their homes and are seen flagging down vehicles to check whether the public is travelling unnecessarily.In Trichy, roads wore a deserted look as there was a heavy police deployment and this has prevented people from coming out into the streets.

Rajamanikyam, a businessman at Trichy who deals in Chemicals while speaking to IANS said, “There is no necessity for people to venture out and we have all stocked essential items required for a couple of weeks. People have to show restraint from going out and to behave according to what the government has directed. The spread has to be mated.”Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli and Madurai in South Tamil Nadu also witnessed very low vehicular traffic and people are not seen venturing out much.Veerapandyan, a bus driver from Kanniyakumari while speaking to IANS said, “People of Kanniyakumari are abiding by the call of the Chief minister. This is the only way to prevent the spread of the Covid virus and we will have to do whatever the government tells us.”The industrial city of Coimbatore has also very less vehicular movement. Vehicles were not seen on the roads and commercial establishments were closed. The movement of people was much less in the city.After the lockdown commenced from Monday, officials across Tamil Nadu are of the opinion that in two days time things will fall in place and people will abide by the government directive.