City set for near-complete lockdown; no shops, no trains, no taxis, no autos, no buses, no hotels

Mysore/Mysuru: Most private establishments and public services, except for hospitals (only emergencies there too) and medical shops will be shut across Mysuru and the rest of Karnataka tomorrow. 

The closure of services will be part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for a ‘Janata Curfew’ on Mar. 22 (Sunday) where he asked people to remain indoors from 7 am to 9 pm.

Last Thursday, Modi called for a nationwide one-day curfew in light of the Coronavirus outbreak. Barring essential services, he requested all citizens to stay home during the 14-hour period, calling it a test of India’s preparedness to tackle the pandemic.

While there will be no train services to and fro Mysuru due to poor occupancy and pandemic outbreak, Karnataka State Road Transport Service (KSRTC) that provides inner-city services, said that they would operate with limited capacity and operate only based on demand. “If there are no people, there won’t be any buses,” KSRTC officials said. 

Government hospitals will only handle in-patient service with no new admissions (outpatient department) except emergencies. However, there is no word from the private hospitals regarding their participation in the Janata Curfew. 

It is a Sunday and a holiday for all Government offices and public sector undertakings. Private establishments including shops, business establishments, and merchant trade institutions too will remain shut as all associations, tours and travel association, auto and taxi associations and hotel association have supported the Janata Curfew call. This step has been taken to encourage the public to stay indoors to maintain social distancing as it is essential to counter the spread of COVID-19.

Only employees who are working on mission-critical healthcare services and essential services will operate from their respective offices and shops after taking necessary precautions. 

Industries too have declared a holiday for their employees. Bars and liquor outlets (even take-away) will be closed. 

All transport services, including app-based cabs and autorickshaws, too will go off the roads as most drivers’ associations will take part in the curfew. All passenger services trains originating between Saturday night and 10 pm on Sunday shall not run. All long distance mail/express and intercity trains originating between 4 am and 10 pm on Sunday will be cancelled,” the Railway Board said in a notification.   

All petrol bunks in city will remain closed from 7 am to 9 pm. However, emergency supplies will be provided to Police vehicles, ambulances and Fire Department vehicles at select bunks. The Police administration too is ready to handle the Janata curfew by enforcing stay-at-home idea for 14 hours.