Himanta lauds citizens for adhering to lockdown norms

GUWAHATI: Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while addressing reporters on Wednesday afternoon, acknowledged the fact that lockdown violations have been minimal during the past three days compared to the total lockdown enforced in March.

“I have extensively visited various locations of the city in the past two days and found that people have more or less adhered to lockdown rules in a disciplined manner for which I am grateful to them,” Sarma said.

Meanwhile, five persons were arrested and two cases registered by Assam police for flouting guidelines on the third day of the total lockdown in Kamrup Metro district till Wednesday evening.

Compared to the first two days, the violations have however come down even as 58 vehicles, including 24 four wheelers, had to be detained for plying on the roads without any authorisation.

It may be mentioned that 26 persons were arrested for breaking lockdown rules on Monday while six were held on Tuesday.

However, fines realised from people for not wearing masks amounted to Rs 11,500 as against Rs 12,000 on Tuesday and Rs 3000 on Monday.

With the community transmission of coronavirus entering the first stage in the city, the Kamrup Metro district and police administration had appealed to people to stay indoors while warning strict action against lockdown violators under the sections of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and IPC.

Over the three days, strict checks were conducted at the checkpoints set up at strategic points of the city.