Madhya Pradesh announces night curfew in Bhopal & Indore as Covid-19 cases rise

According to a government order, the night curfew will come in effect from March 17. In eight other cities, markets will have to close by 10pm, as per the order.

The Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday announced that the state’s two largest cities of Indore and Bhopal will witness a night curfew from March 17, in the wake of rising fresh daily cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the central state.

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan (HT File Photo)

“Night curfew will be implemented in Bhopal and Indore from March 17, until further order. Markets in eight cities-Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ujjain, Ratlam, Burhanpur, Chhindwara, Betul, Khargone to shut at 10pm from March 17. There won’t be curfews in these cities,” news agency ANI quoted a Madhya Pradesh government order, as saying.

The night curfew will be in effect from 10pm-6am, the order said.

Last Saturday, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had expressed concern at the rise in Covid-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh, particularly in Indore and Bhopal. Also, a day before, speaking to reporters about the pandemic situation in the two cities, Chouhan had said that Bhopal and Indore would ‘most likely be put under night curfew.’ The chief minister had further said, “Look at the rise in infection cases…Tough measures will be taken to flatten the curve.”

On Tuesday morning, Chouhan tweeted that he would chair a key meeting later in the day, in which, he said, some more Covid-19 related decisions are likely to be taken. He also urged people to take the situation seriously, wear masks and follow all the norms diligently.

On Monday, 797 new coronavirus cases were detected in Madhya Pradesh, the state’s highest in a single-day in 2021, taking the infection tally to 269,391, while three related deaths took the death toll to 3,890. Of these, Indore and Bhopal accounted for 259 and 199 cases respectively.

Overall, 62,411 Covid-19 cases have been detected in Indore thus far, while the corresponding figure for Bhopal, the state capital, stands at 45,535. The two cities have also recorded 943 and 622 deaths thus far, respectively.

(With agency inputs)