By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Apr. 11: Since the day when the government announced the nationwide lockdown to contain Coronavirus (COVID-19), traffic police have been incessantly making an effort to enforce the lockdown effectively and save people from the infection of coronavirus.
As directed by the authority, traffic police have been working hard not to allow people to come out from their homes except for emergency cases.
The government has decided to prohibit all public movements outside the home, except for emergencies like seeking medical help and buying essential foodstuff.
All public and private vehicles, except for those with prior permission, those belonging to security forces and those for health workers, are forbidden to ply along the roads.
Amid the lockdown, police personnel are deployed in different transit points which connect one district with another. They are strictly monitoring people’s mobility.
During the last two weeks many vehicles were seized from across the country for operating on the roads without prior permission or specific reason.
Despite the lockdown 1,200 to 1,300 people were found roaming around the road violating the direction of government, said Bhim Prasad Dhakal, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD).
“We have taken more than 6,100 vehicles under control to during 17 days of lockdown, which were found operating without prior permission and without any medical reason,” he said.
SSP Dhakal said that traffic police have been deployed in 39 check points of the valley during the day time and in 45 check points in the night time.
Traffic police have also arrested the people who were found misusing travel permit, he said.
Besides their regular duties, traffic police are also involved in awareness generating campaigns to make the people aware about the possible outbreak of the deadly disease.
Of late, the traffic police are mainly focused on two tasks--ask people to stay at home and enforce the lockdown, he said.
Secondly, the traffic police are also concerned about the health security of traffic police and are working to protect them from the possible transmission of virus.
As protection measures, the traffic police were provided with ace masks, gloves and sanitizer, he added.
“Similarly, the division has also managed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for those traffic police who deployed in hospital areas. The division has also arranged 25 bedded quarantine inside the division.”
The traffic police have been working in the coordination of other bodies to fight against the virus, he said, adding, “Traffic police are coordinating with local ward offices to avoid unnecessary crowd.”
It is also coordinating with local representatives to buy and sell food stuffs and provide home delivery services.
He also asked people to dial 103, a toll free number, if they have any urgency to go outside their homes.