coronavirus lockdown

Lockdown tensions Just a few hours before the 21-day national lockdown started, there was a sudden rush of people trying to return to their hometowns, even though buses and other vehicles were off the roads. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had allowed a final window till Tuesday midnight by lifting the ban on inter-district movement that had been enforced since Monday. The move was apparently to enable people to celebrate Ugadi, but the rush undid social distancing. Moreover, several thousands were stuck at various toll booths. An official memo signed by the City Police Commissioner, Bhaskar Rao, revealed that passes…

Supply of packaged drinking water in several parts of Bengaluru has been affected after the total lockdown that came into effect from Tuesday midnight. There are many sides to the problem. One, packaged water distributors are unable to fetch cans from bottling companies due to the lockdown. Two, distributors are unable to supply cans to residents who place orders through phone calls. Several distributors in the city have stopped answering their phones as the demand for packaged water has soared and they are unable to meet it. The other side of the story is that offices being the biggest customers…

The Bengaluru City Police (BCP) has introduced a pass system to regulate the movement of people during the 21-day lockdown that began at midnight on Monday. According to the BCP memo, passes would be issued at the offices of the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioners of Police (Law & Order) and would be made available 24/7 on the submission of a standard application form. Staff at DCP offices would be working in three shifts to issue these passes, the memo said. The memo, signed by city police commissioner Bhaskar Rao, said that two types of passes would be issued - one for…