A day before the fresh lockdown imposed in Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts comes into force, heavy traffic was observed at toll gates leading out of Bengaluru on Monday.
“There is a high number of vehicles leaving via this toll gate. The police allowed for free movement to avoid a traffic pile-up,” an official at the Navayuga toll gate connecting Bengaluru and Tumakuru told TNM.
Heavy traffic was also observed when the lockdown on Sundays was announced earlier this month. But with the lockdown from July 14 extending for a week, it appears that a number of the city's residents are heading out.
“I am leaving for my home in Udupi and will be working remotely from there. I will return depending on the situation,” Vignesh, a techie based in Bengaluru told TNM.
His company, like many others, has allowed its employees to continue working from home for the rest of the month. Some companies have allowed employees to work from home until September.
The fresh lockdown in Bengaluru will be in effect from 8 pm on July 14 to 5 am on July 22. Detailed guidelines for the lockdown were released on Monday night.
According to the guidelines, restrictions are imposed on movement in Bengaluru, except in cases of emergencies.
Karnataka reported 2,738 COVID-19 cases on Monday with 1,315 cases reported in Bengaluru. This took the total number of active cases in the state to 24,572 and in the city to 15,052. Bengaluru has been reporting over 1,000 cases everyday for the past few days. The rise in cases began at the end of June, prompting officials to go back on their earlier decision and impose a lockdown in the city.
Similar to the restrictions in Bengaluru, lockdowns have been announced in Dakshina Kannada and Dharwad districts starting on Wednesday.