Vijayawada: The fear factor is forcing the public to close the roads of their villages and localities by erecting barricades to restrain the entry of people from other places.
The locals of Jagannadhapuram and Jujjuru villages of Veerulapadu Mandal in Andhra Pradesh used dried tree branches and trunks to build a barricade on the roads to restrain outsiders.
The locals stated that coronavirus is spreading through foreign returnees and outsiders, and hence the two villagers decided to close the roads. They demanded that the government should not allow foreign returnees to mingle with the public even if they test negative for COVID-19 as the pandemic would show its effect only after two weeks of time.
They sought the government to put the foreign returnees in the isolation wards for either 14 or 28 days’ period.
The locals of the Palapadu village of Narasaraopet Mandal and Tulasi Nagar of Bapatla district in AP also closed the entrances of their localities. They put tree trunks and a bunch of thorns on the roads to restrain outsiders.
In 9th ward of Mangalagiri, the locals closed roads by parking cars and bikes restraining outsiders. The locals said that despite repeated appeals by the government, the public violated lockdown restrictions and were freely roaming on the roads.
Hence they voluntarily parked vehicles to restrain the outsiders and further strict implementation of lockdown.
They said that lockdown is a must to contain COVID-19 but some heedless people create disturbances by violating norms hence they voluntarily closed streets and roads.
