Declaration of lockdown of Rourkela from March 22 to 29 by the State Government to contain the spread of Coronavirus did not receive good response here on Monday as a number of shops in different market places were open and there were public movements as well.
Later in the day, however, Rourkela SP K Shiva Subramani moved out and alerted the public, following which shops in the main road areas of the city were closed.
The call for lockdown by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Janata Curfew call, which had received very good response from the public. But on Monday, which was the second day of the lockdown, the response was casual.
In the main road areas of the city, the shops and private offices were open and the market areas crowded.
Private sector industrial units located in different parts of the city also operated and therefore their employees were on the move. The township area of the city also witnessed normal traffic during the shift timings of the Rourkela Steel Plant as the plant was under production.
