After a gap of several months, the city came under a complete Sunday lockdown on April 25. The roads were mostly deserted as people chose to stay indoors and only a few ventured out for essential purposes and most of them wore masks.
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To control the spread of COVID-19 as the country is facing a second wave, the state government announced various new restrictions including night lockdown between 10 pm to 4 a.m and complete lockdown on Sundays. The city police geared up to enforce the complete lockdown by deploying 12,000 police personnel and setting up 192 checkpoints across Chennai.
"But our work was made easier as people stayed indoors. Only a few people who were heading to hospitals or for essential services were out on the road. Conduct of marriages, with prior permission, was allowed with the permitted number of people," said N Kannan, additional commissioner of police, South.
Arterial roads such as Anna Salai, Poonamallee High Road, Old Mahabalipuram Road, East Coast Road in Chennai and Kamaraj Salai wore a deserted look. Lanes leading to these major roads were barricaded. The usually bustling MGR Chennai Central Railway station was also devoid of the usual crowd.
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"Few people were seen taking selfies on Anna Salai, we asked them to leave immediately. We had placed barricades at traffic signals to slow down vehicles and check them. However compared to last time, we feel people have become aware of the impending danger of stepping out unnecessarily and are staying indoors," said a police officer on Anna Salai.
Few food delivery agents and lots of Greater Chennai Corporation's sanitary workers were seen on the road. Most of the shops, except pharmacies, were closed. "We had created awareness among shop keepers to keep the shops shut during the complete lockdown. We are also using drones to monitor the situation," said a senior police officer.