'Janata curfew': India readies for a complete lockdown on Sunday

The Indian Railways has issued instructions to zones that no passenger train will originate from any railway station in the country from 7 am to 10 pm on Sunday in view of the ‘Janta curfew’ announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Zonal railways, however, can decide to run a train that day if the occupancy is high.  Food plazas, restaurants and railway kitchens besides onboard catering services on railways will be shut from Sunday.

The national capital’s lifeline — Delhi Metro — will shut down services on all routes on Sunday (March 22). The curfew is aimed at encouraging people to stay indoors and break the chain of COVID-19. Delhi Metro’s average daily ridership is over 5 million. The Noida-Greater Noida Metro will also not operate on March 22.

Taxi services have been exempted from the transport shutdown. There will be other measures like complete shutdown of gyms, bars, restaurants, cinema halls, swimming pools and malls on Sunday.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), on Thursday, too, advised commuters to avoid travelling by metro unless it is necessary. Besides thermal screening at the stations, DMRC also said trains would not allow standing passengers and would not halt at crowded stations. Frequency of trains would also be impacted, DMRC said.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday announced a near lockdown of the state, barring essential services such as banking, railway, other modes of transportation, food, vegetables, groceries, hospitals, and medical centres.

Ola and Uber are expected to join the lockdown but will not shutdown services on Sunday. "In line with the advisory, we urge riders to observe the ‘Janata Curfew’. However, we will offer services to meet urgent travel needs of the communities we serve," Uber said. 

Ola said it was “still assessing the situation” and had not made any decision yet to shutdown services on Sunday.