Hyderabadis stay home during 'Janata Curfew'

There were no activists shouting at shopkeepers to pull their shutters down for a bandh nor were there lathi-wielding policemen enforcing curfew. Yet, Hyderabad chose to show its resolve with an overwhelming majority of people deciding to stay home and join the Janata Curfew in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The city went into lockdown mode, literally. Almost all households chose to shut themselves out this weekend, and there was not a soul to be seen on the streets in many of the residential clusters.

The roads were deserted but for an occasional bike or a car, ambulances sped past without having to use the siren, dogs in packs playfully chased each other on the Gachibowli main road, where on a regular day, a pedestrian would spend anxious moments to cross the road.

Barring medical stores and a few fuel bunks,



not a store or a kiosk, not even a roadside cycle-on-the-stand cigarette vendor, were seen operating. Every outlet from Udupi tiffin centres to Biryani addas remained shut. This left scores staying in working hostels with no option but to adjust with bread or biscuits left in their cupboards which they did not seem to grumble about.

The usual daily bustle of the city went missing completely. There was no rumble and rattle of vehicles and no chatter of people, and the city streets were enveloped in a rare stillness.

The IT corridor of the city was bereft of the buzz as there was no Metro Rail rolling down on the elevated tracks nor were there buses or autos. The old city too joined in the voluntary curfew and from the morning itself, business establishments remained closed and denizens stayed indoors.