Slight uptick in traffic as factories restart work, cops step up watch

There was a marginal increase in movement on Delhi’s roads and the police deployed additional personnel at pickets on Monday as factories and construction sites opened amid the first relaxations in lockdown curbs. Police said they kept watch to ensure unexempted businesses and individuals do not open up or move around.

Amid a sharp fall in Covid-19 cases in the city, the Delhi government started easing the lockdown that has been in place in Delhi since April 20, and allowed construction and manufacturing units in approved industrial

NEW DELHI:

areas to function from Monday.

“The movement on the city’s roads increased marginally. So we pressed more police staff at the pickets as there was a possibility of some taking undue advantage,” said Chinmoy Biswal, Delhi Police spokesperson.

While the guidelines mandate workers to show ID cards, police said they were given instructions to verify those who didn’t have adequate papers as well. “We sent out our personnel with a briefing that there could be many genuine factory and construction workers who do not have identity cards. The police were instructed to use their experience to distinguish genuine workers the rest,” said RP Meena, Dcp(south-east), an area which has hundreds of factories in its jurisdiction.

While police officers estimated a 5-10% increase in movement on the roads on Monday, not too many factories opened on the first day. “There were also factories that didn’t open due to lack of raw materials, or because opening up wouldn’t be profitable to them without most of their workers,” said Meena.

As for compliance with the guidelines at workplaces, police said they held meetings with associations and owners of these factories and construction sites. “They were counselled and sensitised about the guidelines... We didn’t receive complaints of violations,” said Rajeev Ranjan, DCP (outer-north).