Bangladesh enters second phase of strict lockdown
Police officials were struggling to ensure that everyone obeyed the government directives as too many people were roaming outside
The second phase of the ongoing lockdown started yesterday, but people continue to flout the restriction measures.
Police officials told The Business Standard that they were struggling to ensure that everyone obeyed the government directives as too many people were roaming outside.
People came out of home on various pretexts. Some of them were even showing years-old prescriptions, while some others were unnecessarily exploiting the exemptions given under 18 categories, said sources.
Police occasionally stopped and checked people for passes, but they were not able to check every single person.
"We can only check so many passes without creating gridlocks. We are trying to check as many as we can and take strict actions," said Morshedul Islam, a sergeant of Ramna Traffic division.
The Business Standard correspondents saw that there were more traffic congestions in key spots in the city compared to the earlier days of the lockdown. There were gridlocks in Banani, Pragati Smarani, Rampura, Bata signal, Science Lab, Banglamotor and Karwan Bazar areas of the capital.
The city's small streets and alleys were also crowded, while an increasing number of people have been going to pray at mosques during Ramadan. A number of grocery, stationery, hardware and some other shops were also open breaching the lockdown rules.
Many people were wandering and gossiping at different roadside tea stalls at Mogbazar, Dilu Road, Kathalbagan and some other areas in the capital.
Moreover, party-loving folks started gathering around many mobile iftar shops on the roads since afternoon.
Abu Bakar, a shopkeeper who recharges mobile phone balance on the side of the road, said, "I was not on the road for eight days, but today I am forced to open the shop as I have not been able to pay this month's house rent yet."
Azizul Hakim Bhuiyan, a pedestrian, said "I had to go to Baridhara for an interview. When I started from Mirpur at 11am, I saw that there were many private cars and non-motorised vehicles on the roads."
"I also noticed traffic congestion in many roads and at the checkpoints. You cannot call it a strict lockdown. I think only the shopping malls and markets are not open. Everything else is going on," he added.
Meanwhile, flight operations on all the domestic routes, except those to and from Cox's Bazar, were resumed on Wednesday on a limited scale after a 16-day suspension.
However, the public transports, markets and shopping malls are yet to reopen amid the strict lockdown.
The government is likely to issue directives over reopening the markets and shopping malls on 24 April, on condition of abiding by the hygiene rules, said the Bangladesh Shop Owners' Association.
Helal Uddin, the association's president, told TBS, "We have submitted an application to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeking permission to reopen the shops."
"Hopefully, directives in this regard will be issued on 24 April," he said quoting government sources.