With the spread of Covid cases in the national capital picking up pace again, the Delhi government imposed night curfew restrictions between 11pm and 5am from December 27 (as part of a ‘yellow alert’ sounded in the city on Tuesday, the timings were revised to 10pm-5am, with no weekend curfew). The curbs came even as Delhi witnessed its biggest single-day spike in infections in six months on Monday, with 331 new cases.
While the night curfew orders strictly say that no one other than authorised workers from essential and emergency services will be allowed out during these hours, parts of the city witnessed a mix of adherence and negligence. News18 visited three busy areas of Delhi as the night curfew came into effect for the first time, and here is what we saw:
Rajokri, Delhi-Gurugram border, 11.10pm
A town on the outskirts of Delhi and a hub of migrants working in both Delhi and Gurugram had no signs of night curfew. Neither was there any police barricading nor any administrative teams were present to execute the Department of Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) orders. Being a border area, hundreds of people travel and pass through here daily. The administration seemingly being oblivious became the primary reason for people not following night curfew and other Covid guidelines.
“We were not aware of the night curfew. Even our company did not tell us. When our company calls us ignoring the night curfew, how can we be expected to follow the night curfew?” said Ashok, who works in an export factory nearby.
Many people in the area were not wearing masks and were not following social-distancing norms either. It seemed to be just another night for them.
India Gate Circle, 11.30pm to midnight
Lutyens’ Delhi, on the other hand, appeared to be following the guidelines. A police team at India Gate was checking the vehicles passing by. People travelling during the curfew hours were also aware of the restrictions, and most of them had valid reasons to travel.
A senior police officer deputed there said, “This is the first day. Not many people know about the night curfew yet. We are trying to ask them for a reason for travelling and not prosecuting them as of now. Those with valid reasons are allowed to go, but not everyone coming here has one. We have been asked to be strict.”
Moti Nagar, midnight
The police here were seen stopping a driver who was violating guidelines. This driver was taking his employer back to his home. He was not wearing a mask and did not even have a licence. When asked if he knew about the night curfew, he said, “I know about the night curfew but how can the government put up such restrictions? They don’t restrict their political engagements but ask us to do this. I don’t care if they want to prosecute, I will fight for my rights.” After much discussion, he was fined for not wearing a mask, and the police let him go with a warning.
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