Staff Reporter :
The streets of Dhaka saw a significant rise in the number of vehicles and crowds on the twelfth day of the nationwide lockdown on Monday.
Gridlock roads have surfaced back in different areas of the capital on Monday, just a day after the country registered a record single-day deaths and cases.
“I don’t see any lockdown; everyone is out on the streets. There are traffic congestions at every other intersection. Even no checking is being done at the checkpost,” said Shamsul Islam, a rickshaw puller in Fakirapul area told Bangla Tribune as he waited for the signal to turn green.
Traffic congestions were also seen in Dainik Bangla intersection, Fakirapul, Arambagh, Kamalapur, Kakrail, Paltan, Shahbagh, Banglamotor, Kawran Bazar and other areas of the city.
Moreover, no army or Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) troopers or even members of the police could be seen on many of the roads.
“We did not stop all the vehicles on Monday to have less interruptions in the flow of traffic as it was heavy. We have stopped vehicles over only suspicious movement,” Sandeep Sarker, assistant commissioner of police’s Khilgaon zone, told the media.
He said they were imposing fines or filing cases against people who could not give a valid reason for leaving their homes.
Khilgaon police arrested 34 people for strolling through different kitchen markets without a reason.
“What’s good to see is everyone is wearing masks,” said senior police officer Sarker
The pandemic situation in Bangladesh has deteriorating since the last few weeks, with highest-ever 230 deaths and 11,856 new cases reported in the 24 hours to Sunday morning.
With the new numbers, Bangladesh’s death tally hit 16,419 while the caseload 1,021,189.
UNB adds: In their bid to strictly enforce restrictions police arrested 604 people in the capital for alleged violation of a 14-day lockdown on its 12th day Monday.
The arrestees were out on the streets violating restrictions, said DMP Additional Deputy Commissioner (media) Iftekharul Islam.
Meanwhile, mobile courts collected Tk 2,63,900 as fines from 168 rules breakers.
During this time, the Traffic Division collected Tk 15,62,000 from 727 vehicles as penalties for failing to comply with coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
Bangladesh is currently under a 14-day lockdown imposed to tame an alarming surge in the Covid infections across the country. Started on July 1 the nationwide strict lockdown will continue until July 14 midnight.
Meanwhile, both Covid cases and fatalities continue to rage across the country.
