Former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said Bengaluru, the state capital should be shut down for 20 days in view of the rising COVID-19 cases instead of sealing a few areas
In a series of tweets, the JD(S) leader said sealing some areas would not serve any purpose and that weaker sections of the society should be taken care of immediately.
"Stop playing with human lives. It will not serve any purpose to seal a few areas. If you care for the human lives in Bengaluru, shut down the city totally for 20 days. Else, Bengaluru will become another Brazil. People's lives are more important than the economy," Kumaraswamy tweeted.
ಜನರ ಪ್ರಾಣದ ಜೊತೆ ಚೆಲ್ಲಾಟ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿ. ಕೆಲವೇ ಪ್ರದೇಶಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸೀಲ್ ಡೌನ್ ಲಾಕ್ ಡೌನ್ ಮಾಡಿದರೆ ಪ್ರಯೋಜನವಿಲ್ಲ. ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ನಿವಾಸಿಗಳು ಬದುಕುಳಿಯಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಈ ಕೂಡಲೇ ಕನಿಷ್ಟ 20 ದಿನ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣ ಲಾಕ್ ಡೌನ್ ಮಾಡಿ. ಇಲ್ಲವಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಬ್ರೆಜಿಲ್ ಆಗಲಿದೆ. ಜನರ ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ಮುಖ್ಯವೇ ಹೊರತು ಆರ್ಥಿಕತೆಯಲ್ಲ.
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) June 23, 2020
1/3
I urge @CMofKarnataka to immediately announce lock down for 20 days, especially for Bengaluru. I also urge him to grant a compensation of at least Rs. 5000 through DBT to all daily wage workers including cab/auto drivers and weavers.
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) June 23, 2020
4/4
Asserting that "mere announcement" of relief package by the state government for drivers, weavers, washermen and various other sections was not enough, he asked it to immediately supply groceries to the weaker section and transfer at least Rs 5,000 to 50 lakh workers.
"Mere announcement of the package will not be sufficient. It should be implemented immediately. The government should not sit idly by showing a rosy picture," Kumaraswamy tweeted.
The Karnataka government on Monday decided to seal five places in the city from where the maximum number of coronavirus cases have been reported. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa took the decision at a meeting with ministers and officials on Monday.
Yediyurappa had expressed his dissatisfaction over people "misusing" the relaxation after the two-month lockdown. He had also put the blame on inter-state travellers as well as those who violated quarantine rules.
The chief minister instructed officials to initiate police cases against those violating the rules mandated to prevent the spread of the disease.
Karnataka reported 249 new COVID-19 cases and five fatalities on Monday, taking the total tally of infections in the state to 9,399 and the death toll to 142. Of the five dead, three were from Bengaluru urban and one each from Ramanagara and Ballari.
Among the districts from where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban accounted for 126, followed by Kalaburagi 27, Vijayapura 15, Udupi 14, Dakshina Kannada 12, Davangere 9, six each from Uttara Kannada and Bagalkot and five each from Bidar and Chikkamagaluru.