Nine Districts including Dakshina Kannada to go under shutdown in Karnataka
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Sunday announced shutdown of all commercial activities other then certain essential services in the nine districts of the state including the capital city, where COVID-19 cases have been reported.
"After taking stock of the coronavirus situation in the state and in neighboring states, the Chief Minister has announced shutdown from tomorrow till March 31 in Bengaluru city, Bengaluru Rural, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Dharwad, Chikkaballapura, Kodagu, Belagavi- the nine districts where COVID-19 cases have been reported," Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said other than essential services like medical, grocery and agriculture, all other commercial activities will be under "shutdown".
"In these nine districts in factories where there are large number of workers, half work force should be utilised on alternate day basis, 50 per cent of the labour should be used on a day," he said, adding that inter-district transport services from these nine districts has been cancelled till March 31.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa held a meeting with top ministers and officials of his government regarding COVID-19 in the state and measures that need to be taken.
Bommai said, 'Janta Curfew' will end by 9 pm, but section 144 (prohibitory orders) will be in force after that till 12 am to see to that people don't gather after curfew time ends."
Streets in Bengaluru and other parts of the state wore a deserted look as the 'Janta curfew' proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help check the spread of coronavirus received a tremendous response across Karnataka.
The Home Minister also said that the public transport will continue to remain shut tomorrow as well across the state, and all AC bus services will not operate till March 31.
Asked whether in the wake of shutdown in Bengaluru will the ongoing budget session Karnataka legislature be cancelled, he said the session will continue as per schedule, unless and until there is further notification, which will be duly communicated.
Responding to a question, Bommai said, government officeswill continue to function as usual to provide essential services, while at private and IT companies other than critical services most of the work force is already working from home.
After holding another such meeting earlier in the day, Yediyurappa had announced the decision to shut state borders, and also to postpone all exams includingLC (class 10- board), aimed at controlling the spread of virus.
However, one paper of PUC (class 12) scheduled for Monday, will be held as per schedule, officials clarified.
Appealing to people in cities not to travel to villages for next 15 days to control outbreak in rural areas, Yediyurappa has said a decision has also been taken to screen all domestic passengers here on at airports.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
11 more bodies retrieved from Arunachal accident site
Itanagar (PTI): Eleven more bodies were retrieved on Saturday from the deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district, where a mini-truck on which 22 labourers from Assam were travelling fell, an official said.
With this, 17 bodies have been recovered from the accident site, Anjaw's deputy commissioner Milo Kojin said.
He said three more bodies will be brought out on Sunday.
The operation, being conducted by a joint team of the NDRF and Army, resumed at 6 am.
ALSO READ: Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
"The retrieval process was extremely difficult because of the treacherous terrain, and the gorge is very deep," Kojin said.
The operation was suspended around 4 pm due to low visibility and will be resumed on Sunday morning, he said.
"One person is still missing, and a search operation will be carried out tomorrow," he added.
The accident happened on the evening of December 8, around 40 km from Hayuliang towards Chaglagam in the district. On the evening of December 10, one survivor managed to climb out of the gorge and reach a nearby Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) labour camp, following which the authorities were alerted.
Six bodies were recovered from the gorge on Friday and handed over to their families on Saturday.
