• First Weekly Sunday curfew to be total
• Buses, vehicles to be off roads; no trains
• Venture out of homes only for essentials
• Sale of fruits, vegetables and meat allowed
• Already scheduled marriages permitted

Mysore/Mysuru: The first ‘weekly Sunday curfew’ as part of lockdown 4.0 will start in Mysuru tonight (May 23) itself instead of Sunday (tomorrow) morning, Mysuru City Police Commissioner Dr. Chandragupta said.

Gearing up for the 36-hour curfew, Chandragupta told ‘Star of Mysore’ that there will be elaborate arrangements to strictly implement the curfew as the Government has directed to make it successful.  Warning violators, the Commissioner said they will be dealt with an iron hand and added that anyone found roaming aimlessly would face legal action.

Though the weekly curfew timing begins from 7 am tomorrow, in fact it begins from 7 pm today itself as due to existing rules all commercial establishments, except medical stores, were asked to close down after 7 pm daily.

Karnataka is the only State in the country that has given call for total curfew for 36 hours to curb spread of deadly virus COVID-19. Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa had announced ahead of the fourth phase of the lockdown that every Sunday there will be lockdown across the State.

Essential services exempted

However, Dr. Chandragupta said that essential items including groceries, fruits, meat, vegetables, milk, hospitals, pharmacies and clinics are allowed to function and people can make use of the facilities.

The decision of Police to exempt essential services and meat comes in view of Ramzan festival. Muslim community members are anticipating the sighting of the crescent moon tonight to mark the celebration of the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramzan.

If the crescent moon is sighted tonight, Eid will be celebrated tomorrow and if not, it will be celebrated on Monday. The official Government holiday for Eid is on Monday. Community members gave a representation to the Government and Police and had urged relaxation in the weekly Sunday curfew due to the holy festival.

No buses, trains

All vehicles, including buses, private vehicles will be off the roads and there will be no train service. “We are making public announcements in various areas in Mysuru asking people to desist from venturing out of their homes unnecessarily till 7 am on Monday. Also, barricades will be put up on all roads from today evening and they will be in place till Monday morning. Policemen will be present at the barricades and will enforce strict weekly curfew measures. Those who violate guidelines will not be spared and action will be initiated under the law,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Dr. A.N. Prakash Gowda.

Marriages allowed

Meanwhile, the authorities have clarified that marriages that have been already scheduled for May 24 and 31 will be exempted from Sunday curfew measures. The clarification comes following a petition from the public seeking clarification or permission to go ahead with the marriages that were already scheduled on Sundays.

Deputy Commissioners have been informed that marriages can be permitted by ensuring social distancing, capping the number of guests at 50 and strict compliance with all other guidelines.

Not more than 50 guests, no AC, no consumption of liquor and paan, no invitation to people aged above 65 and below 10 and also pregnant women are some of the guidelines to be followed for holding marriages. Prohibiting people from containment zones from attending such events, it mandated the use of sanitisers and thermal screening at the entry of the venue.