Don't force us to deploy army: CM KCR

Hyderabad: All routes for entry of coronavirus, air, road and sea routes have been blocked. No one can come from outside or go out of the state.

It is now time to ensure that we stop any kind of spread of the virus internally and for this it is necessary that people should strictly follow the lockdown restrictions or else government would be forced to seek the help of army, said Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

Taking serious note of people moving on the roads violating the restrictions imposed by the government, the Chief Minister has announced curfew will be imposed from 7 pm to 6 am every day.

He appealed to people to maintain self-discipline and stop venturing out of the house. Several countries, including America were deploying army to control the movement of people and this situation should not arise in Telangana. It is time people play the role of responsible citizens, he said.

Special arrangements are being made in case of health emergency, deaths or some unseen situations. In any kind of emergency, people should dial 100 directly and get the assistance from police instantly.

He also expressed his displeasure over the way the elected representatives were playing sitting idle. He asked all of them to get into immediate action and work in coordination with the police and revenue officials.

He asked all MLAs, MLCs, GHMC corporators, elected representatives of zilla parishad, mandal and panchayats to jump into action and serve people and assist the police and other government staff in the discharge their duties.

He asked them to be in their respective constituency headquarters and visit local markets and ensure that there was no shortage of essential commodities and to see that the traders do not exploit the situation.

Anyone found to be indulging in such malpractices will be booked under the Preventive Detention Act. All such traders will be permanently black-listed and licences would be cancelled, he added.

He called upon poets and writers to pen effective poems and songs to educate people about the deadly virus and its impact on the people.

Expressing concern over the police highhandedness regarding movement of doctors and media, the Chief Minister said that police should not create any obstruction to them. They are part of essential services and directed the DGP to ensure that the instructions were strictly implemented.

KCR said there was no shortage of vegetables since Telangana was producing 30 lakh tonnes and the consumption is 27 lakh tonnes only, he explained.

KCR also warned people with foreign travel history avoiding home quarantine and medical tests that their passports will be seized and impounded if need be.

Farmers will be allowed to practice farming activity and the irrigation project works will also be continued with necessary precautions, the Chief Minister said.

Vehicles stranded at border areas will be allowed to move out by exempting the toll tax by Tuesday night. The CM also instructed police to allow media personnel to discharge their duties without creating any problem.

Total lockdown explained

What is total lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi? This was the question that caused confusion among the people as minutes before the PMs announcement, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had said that all shops selling essential commodities would be open and asked people not to rush to these places in groups.

The big question was: Does total lockdown mean total shutdown of all shops as well. But official sources clarified that so far, all States had announced lockdown individually till March 31. The Prime Minister made it official and said it is National Lockdown. The only difference is that he said it would continue for next 21 days. The Chief Minister may announce extension of the date on Thursday.

They also said that since maintenance of law and order situation was State subject, there would be no change in what Chief Minister KCR had stated during his press conference on Tuesday.