700 special officers on lockdown duty in Pune

Following dy CM Ajit Pawar’s call to enforce the lockdown, action was taken against 642 persons on Sunday, while many were made to perform yoga as punishment, according to Pune police statistics

For the next eight days, police will enrolled more than 700 special police officers to support the lockdown efforts in the city, said Pune police commissioner K Venkatesham on Sunday.

Crowds at a vegetable market in Bibvewadi on Sunday did not have any social distancing. (Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)

This decision was taken after a day after deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar instructed the administration to strictly implement lockdown rules in the city for at least eight days more, to control the spread of Covid-19 (coronavirus).

Crowds were reported from several areas in the city as the rush to buy vegetables, mutton and chicken amplified in the wake of the deputy CM’s announcement.

According to Venkatesham, the police have started being more strict in the implementation of lockdown, he said, “We have to break the chain of increasing Covid-19 (coronavirus) cases in the city. We request residents to cooperate with the police department. With the stricter implementation of lockdown rules, there will be more pain in terms of supply of essential supplies in the city. I would like to appeal to everyone to come out only if it is absolutely necessary. We request people over the age of 60 not to come out of home at all,” said Venkatesham.

According to statistics shared by police, actions were taken against 642 persons on Sunday, while many were made to sit and perform yoga as punishment

The city currently has 586 Covid-19 positive cases, with 50 deaths, till Sunday.

Taking note of surge in infection, Pawar on Saturday pulled up officials from the administration and police department, asking them to implement the lockdown rules strictly.

To increase efforts to reduce crowd on streets, district collector Naval Kishore Ram held meeting with officials. “To bring down Covid-19 positive numbers, we have to make every possible effort in next eight days so that people will stay at home,” said Ram.

Vinit Kadam, a resident of Katraj, said, “We are not getting enough vegetables and at some shops, they are sold at a very high price. So today (on Sunday) we preferred chicken.”

While chicken was sold between Rs 180 to Rs 200 per kg, mutton was sold at Rs 650 to Rs 750, depending on type and quality.

Another resident Asim Banekar from Swargate said, “It has become difficult to get basic vegetables like potatoes and onions. Our request to the government and police is to please allow small vegetable vendors with proper precautionary measures to conduct business.”