Putting the onus on citizens, civic administration opted for two days of ‘Janata Curfew’ in city during the weekend. Conveying the outcome of meeting held with public representatives on Friday, Mayor Sandip Joshi and Municipal Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said that for Saturday and Sunday it would be a voluntary curfew. That means it’s upto the citizens to act with restrain and avoid moving out of their houses for no apparent reason as Mundhe made it clear that they would not force implementation but left it to the wisdom of citizens.

Another meeting is slated for July 31 at Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to decide about future of lockdown with curfew that is being talked about to prevent spread of coronavirus in city. During the next meet the outcome of two days’ curfew would be assessed. Post ‘Janata Curfew’ during next few days another round of intensified awareness campaign would be undertaken in city to ensure citizens do not violate rules.

As to lockdown with curfew the decision rests on case load during the next week and situation on ground. In case the virus chain is not broken, then city would witness lockdown that however may spell trouble for businesses and economy in general.

So Mundhe said, “People of Nagpur must behave and observe the guidelines of unlockdown otherwise 14-day lockdown with curfew would be the only resort left with the civic administration.” The two, while interacting with newspersons at New Administrative Building of NMC, said that during the two days’ ‘Janata Curfew’ all establishment categorised as essentials in nature would remain open.

This means distribution of newspapers, milk can be carried out as per normal procedure, while pharmacy would function  as usual. But non-essential shops like that those selling clothes, hardware, electrical accessories, furniture would remain closed. Though the grocery shops are part of essential commodities, their Association has appealed its members to keep their establishments closed to break transmission of the virus as people tend to crowd their establishments.

At the meeting, all public representatives voiced opposition to any further lockdown and rejected idea of curfew. They were of the view that people need to be made aware about fact that violations on their part can result into imposition of curfew hence they should stick to rules and co-operate with administrative machinery.

During the discussion, Pravin Datke, MLC, broached the topic of ‘Janata Curfew’. All the persons concurred with their suggestion and it was endorsed

that police would go for disciplining the citizens during the next two days.

It was felt that during these two days, people would not step out of their houses, unless for medical emergency. To avoid sudden rise in graph of COVID-19 cases each person should wear mask, maintain social distancing, avoid crowding and most of all do not venture out just for the sake of fun.

Public representatives too volunteered to move around in city appealing citizens to take adequate care of themselves and that of others and not take any unnecessary risk. It is wise to protect one’s health and avoid putting burden on health machinery that is working day and night since last four months and they too deserve a break.

Mayor appealed public representatives to move around in their centres and make citizens aware about dangers of COVID-19 to economy of the city and the community as a whole.

Girish Vyas, MLC, crticised the free for all scenes in city and said citizens are taking the virus-threat lightly. But its implications are far wider and people should not indulge in heroic acts and maintain self-discipline. Shrikant Dholke, President, Business Cell, Nagpur City (District) Congress Committee, termed ‘Janata Curfew’ as one more blow on the move to return to normalcy in city. Problems of ordinary citizens are going to increase with the curfew, he said.