Janata Curfew, a one day voluntary social distancing exercise, proved to be a resounding success in the twin cities on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to observe the social distancing to help check the spread of coronavirus elicited good response from the public. While people kept themselves indoors, business establishments except those dealing with essential commodities and services remained closed for the day. Even vehicular movement on the roads was near nil. The North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), a major transport operator in this region, and private bus services suspended operations.
Even autorickshaws and private vehicles too remained off the road.
The city has not witnessed such an unprecedented voluntary shutdown in the recent past.
In Hubballi, the streets were empty and shops and eateries remained shut. The usually bustling areas, including Rani Chennamma Circle, Dajiban Pet, M.G. Market and Koppikar Road, and others besides the bus stations, railway station and airport wore a deserted look. People have cancelled all private programmes and visits to other places and remained indoors. Churches called off their Sunday masses to avoid crowding. Only civic workers were found to be discharging their duties in some areas.
In Dharwad too, life came to virtual standstill as people observed the social distancing exercise in solidarity with Mr. Modi’s call. The otherwise busy Subhas Road, Swami Vivekananda Circle, Jubilee Circle, Court Circle and others wore empty looks.
The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and the private bus operators suspended services.
Only a skeleton number of vehicles were seen on the roads. Moreover, following the spread of the news of one person testing positive for COVID-19, people further refrained from coming out of their houses. Even newspaper hawkers and milk suppliers winded up their work before 7 a.m.
As per Mr. Modi’s appeal, people came to their balconies at 5 p.m. to clap, ring bells, blow conches and play gongs in the twin cities.
