6-day Delhi lockdown triggers exodus

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 19

As health systems reached breaking point, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a six-day lockdown in the national capital saying the government could not have people dying on the roads and hospital corridors.

The lockdown triggered an exodus of migrants. Thousands gathered at Anand Vihar ISBT here to catch a bus back home, despite Kejriwal appealing them not to rush back home, assuring the lockdown would not be extended. A senior police officer said maximum force had been deployed at the ISBT.

Mukesh Pratap, who works at a cloth factory and a native of UP’s Bareilly, said he wanted to return home.

“Lockdown will definitely affect our livelihood, so it is better for us to be with our families at home,” he said.

Essential services exempted

• All essential services will continue to run without any restriction
• No curbs on movement of pregnant women and patients
• All modes of transportation—buses, metro, autos, taxis and others—can run as before
• No restrictions on the services of private doctors and nurses
• Passengers going to airport or railway station exempted, provided they produce ticket
• No pass required for inter-state and intra-state movement of essential and non-essential goods

Summer vacation in schools advanced

Delhi Government on Monday advanced summer vacation in all schools. The vacation, which was to start from May 11 till June 30, has been rescheduled from April 20 to June 9.