COVID-19: Urban TN gets deserted, authorities focus on clean up work

Chennai, Apr 26 () The complete shutdown in the majorurban centres of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai and Coimbatore,came into force on Sunday with groceries and vegetable shopsalso shutting down as civic bodies intensified disinfectionwork in their respective regions.

While police patrol vehicles and flying squads of civicbodies alone could be seen in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai,Salem and Tirupur, people in some localities in north Chennailoitered around and police warned them to stay indoors.

Also, regions close to Chennai and falling underChengelpet, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur districts, besidesdistricts including Cuddalore, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam arefully shut today.

Though mild showers since early morning here broughtwelcome relief to people during summer, there was no respitefor health workers of Greater Chennai Corporation, whocontinued their work of visiting every household to check ifpeople had symptoms, including fever associated with flu.

Districts, including Chengelpet, also witnessed rains.

Disinfection work was carried out in all shutdown cities,with special focus on containment zones, authorities said.

Milk supply was not affected as government run 'Aavin' (Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers'Federation) deliveredit to consumers at their doorsteps as usual.

The Koyambedu vegetable market here, which alone wasallowed to open, witnessed fewer footfalls as the public werenot permitted to venture out and retailers runningneighbourhood outlets avoided purchase from there as theycould not open their shops.

Traders said some hawkers and pushcart vendors were amongthe very few number of people who visited the market to buyvegetables and arrival of fresh stocks too was limited.

While several shops within the marketwere either shut oropened only for purposes like cleaning, a section of outletsthatopened for usual trade closed by noon.

President of the Koyambedu Market Anna Anaithu VyabarigalPodhuNala Sangam, (General traders welfare association)'Pazhakadiai' Jayaraman told : "The market is desertedsince people did not venture out of their homes.

Many like me who opened shops in the morning closed downour outlets at noon since there were not many buyers."

People had on Saturday resorted to panic buying ofessentials in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tirupur and Salem. Koyambedu, the name of both the locality here and themarket, is one of the biggest in South India, that vendsvegetables, fruits and flowers, catering to the generalpublic, wholesalers and retailers as well.

As COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Tamil Nadu,Palaniswami had on April 24 announced a complete shutdownbeginning Sunday in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai for fourdays, disallowing grocery shops as well and fully curtailingmovement of the public.

Also, Salem and Tirupur in western Tamil Nadu shall beshut similarly, albeit for three days from April 26, he saidwhile assuring the people that mobile outlets would bringvegetables and fruits would to their doorsteps. Chennai Corporation had made it clear that barringKoyambedu, no shops would be allowed to function even forselling vegetables and fruits and that only push carts andmobile vehicles would be permitted to do so. VGN APRRAVINDRANATH APRRAVINDRANATH