UNB, Dhaka :
The residents of Dhaka woke up to deserted roads as Bangladesh entered a stringent lockdown on Thursday with patrol teams out there to convince people to stay off the streets.
The complete lockdown, which came into effect on Thursday morning to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus, will continue till July 7 midnight.
Army personnel started patrolling the city streets in aid of the civil administration as the government scrambles to bring the Covid-19 situation under control.
Police have set up barricades and check-posts at all important points of the city to monitor the movement of vehicles as well as people. So, most roads in the capital were found almost empty with fewer private vehicles moving.
However, slow-moving rickshaws were seen moving everywhere in the city.
Kitchen markets in the city remained open as the government allowed those to operate from 8 am to 5 pm.
Abu Saleh Mohammad Raihan, joint commissioner (Traffic North) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said, “Roughly 25 per cent vehicles are plying the city roads compared to the last day as some offices related to emergency services will remain open during the lockdown. However, the police allowed only those vehicles which had valid reasons to move. Army personnel are also there patrolling the city streets.”
No CNG-run auto-rickshaw other than rickshaws were seen on the roads since morning, he said.
Traffic inspector Ziauddin (Demra) said, “Some motorised vehicles are moving there but those were allowed only after checking.”
Asaduzzaman, another traffic inspector (Mohakhali), said: “The number of vehicles is negligible and most of those running with valid reasons.”
However, the public transport remained off the road as per the government directives.
A surge in coronavirus cases prompted the government to go for the tough lockdown. On Wednesday, the country recorded 115 deaths – its highest single-day fatality – and 8,822 new cases.
