E-Paper
Bhiwani village imposes self-lockdown for five days
Residents of Bhiwani’s Behal village, which shares its boundaries with Rajasthan, have decided to impose curfew which is stricter than the state government’s lockdown till May 20 after the village witnessed a surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths
Residents of Bhiwani’s Behal village, which shares its boundaries with Rajasthan, have decided to impose curfew which is stricter than the state government’s lockdown till May 20 after the village witnessed a surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths.
This is the second village in district to impose self-lockdown after Mundhal Khurd amid rise in cases.
The decision was taken after youths, elderly people, and shopkeepers held meeting, and called Behal naib tehsildar Surender Kaushik and local police station SHO Surender Pal to apprise them of their decision. The officials announced to provide cooperation to break the chain. It was decided that all shops except those selling medicines will remain closed for the next five days.
Behal shares boundaries with Rajasthan and many people used to visit here every day to purchase items.
There are more than 75 active cases in the village and there are many suspected cases, who are not appearing for testing.
More than 30 people have died in the village in the last 20 days and five of them were reported as Covid deaths.
“To break the chain, we have imposed curfew for the next five days. We have asked the administration to impose a penalty on those trying to violate the norms. It will impact our livelihoods but we want to save lives. Local transport services will also be affected,” said Purshotam Bholan, who attended the meeting.
Naresh Lakhlan, who runs a grocery shop, said they are ready to accept financial crunches and the curfew was need of the hour.
“The residents have decided to set up isolation centres on their own, apart from the ones established by the state government,” he added.
Behal naib tehsildar Surender Kaushik said they support the locals’ decision to impose strict measures for the next five days. It will help keep check on rise in cases, he said.
“The village has seen rise in Covid cases and more than 15 people died in last two weeks, five of them have died of Covid. We are urging people to appear for testing,” he added.
Behal SHO Surinder Pal said they are checking every vehicle and only allowing those who are going a long distance and those visiting hospitals.
“We have sealed the village from all sides and issued challans to the violators,” the SHO added.
