Vehicles prohibited to ply during 14 day lockdown in Karnataka, police given power to seize

KEY STORY

• Whether you are going to your neighbourhood shops to buy groceries or the nearest drinking water dispenser plant to pick up a can of water, leave your vehicles behind from Monday onwards for 14 days.

• As part of the 14-day partial lockdown announced in Karnataka, vehicles are prohibited to ply and police have been given the authority to seize vehicles plying on roads.  Vehicles will be allowed only in case of a medical emergency or to commute to hospitals or healthcare centres for vaccination but  with proof.

• Right from Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, DG & IGP of police Praveen Sood to City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant, all have appealed to citizens to not venture out. “Pl take lockdown seriously in the overall interest of everyone’s safety…. or be ready to get your vehicle seized for next two weeks. Choice is yours (sic),” said a tweet from the Karnataka DGP’s official Twitter handle on Sunday.

Pl take lockdown seriously in the overall interest of everyone’s safety…. or be ready to get your vehicle seized for next two weeks. Choice is yours. https://t.co/ReF50cXpcw

— DGP KARNATAKA (@DgpKarnataka) May 8, 2021

Police in various places have already started cracking down on commuters every day. “Details of the vehicles seized for violation of #COVID19 guidelines: As of May 9: from 10 AM to 8 PM 2-wheelers: 1984 3-wheelers: 99 4-wheelers: 144 Total – 2227 ———— Cases booked under NDMA: 23 (sic),” tweeted the city police commissioner.

Details of the vehicles seized for violation of #COVID19 guidelines:

As of May 9: from 10 AM to 8 PM

2-wheelers: 1984
3-wheelers: 99
4-wheelers: 144

Total – 2227
————
Cases booked under NDMA: 23

— Kamal Pant, IPS (@CPBlr) May 9, 2021

• For the next 14-days the government has put in place stringent measures to curb the movement of people.

• While in the original order, the cap on the number of people at weddings was 50, in an addendum released on Saturday evening, the state government said the cap was 40 for weddings. A total of 40 passes will be issued for weddings by the zonal BBMP officials or tahsildar.

• Only those people who have these passes will be allowed to commute. These measures come at a time when Karnataka is consistently seeing a massive increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.

Those with pre-booked appointments, SMS confirmation can go for vaccination

BENGALURU: With the state gearing up to face another 14-day partial lockdown starting Monday, the state government on Sunday evening issued fresh amendments to the orders. While the previous order had allowed movement of people to get COVID-19 vaccination, the new order has now been amended to allow only those with pre-booked slots and an SMS confirmation.

This essentially means that movement of vehicles will not be allowed for walk-in vaccinations starting Monday. Patients and their caretakers, in case of emergencies, will be allowed to commute by vehicles. Movement for testing will be allowed with minimal proof, the order said without specifying what can qualify as proof.

CONCLUSION

The addendum also states that defense PSUs, banks, RBI, insurance offices etc will be allowed to function at 50 per cent capacity. No such cap was placed in the earlier order. An amendment has been made for e-commerce deliveries as well.

While the earlier guidelines allowed e-commerce deliveries, the addendum allows delivery of only essentials items via e-commerce.