Enforcement of curfew in Ludhiana: 20 more join as volunteers, total count now 2,020

Since the curfew was imposed in the city on March 22, the number of such volunteers has increased by over five times

Twenty more residents have joined as volunteers to enforce curfew imposed in the city, making the total count of such volunteers as high as 2,020.

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On March 22, when the administration had imposed curfew in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in city, 400 volunteers were working with the police. Since then, the count has increased by over five times.

These volunteers are deployed at around 125 check posts installed in various areas of the city.

Assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Gurdev Singh, who is also the nodal officer of the curfew enforcement team, said to arrest the spread of coronavirus, residents must maintain social distancing, for which the curfew was imposed. “But we required a lot of manpower to enforce the curfew imposed in the city that has a population of 1.69 million people. So we decided to take help from civilians. Today, 2,020 volunteers are helping us in achieving the goal and are also providing door-to-door emergency services,” he said, adding that to monitor these volunteers, 28 police personnel had been appointed at every police station.

“As there were a few complaints regarding misbehaviour by volunteers, we have formed a WhatsApp group on which I send videos to give instructions to the volunteers and counsel them,” he said. “If any resident is facing any issue regarding a curfew enforcement officer, they can contact me,” he added.

So far, 50 umbrellas and 500 cartons of soft drinks have been distributed to the volunteers and police personnel, he added.