Bhubaneswar: Taking note of the inconvenience to the people of the twin cities in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack during the lockdown restrictions by the Odisha government, the Commissionerate Police on Friday advised them to dial 100 in case of an emergency.
Talking to the media, Police Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi said that the police will not detain any person if he/she is taking a patient to the hospital.
“Since 6400 policemen are on duty for the strict implementation of the lockdown guidelines, some of them may not realise the urgency of the people. Hence, if any person is detained by the police at any place of the city, he/she should dial 100. Upon receiving the call, the police control room will send a VHF message to the concerned policemen on duty to allow the person to visit his/her destination,” he said.
For those visiting medicine shops, the police commissioner said if anyone has the medical prescriptions, he/she should dial 100 and the police control room will send an SMS to his/her mobile phone. By showing the message to the police, he/she will be allowed to visit the medicine shop, Sarangi said.
In case of a death, he advised that the kin of the deceased to dial 100 if they want to pay their homage to the departed soul so that the police can assist them to visit the house of the deceased.
The police commissioner, however, made it clear that people will be given a police pass to visit a particular destination.
“Presently, 12 policemen are engaged for every 100 people in the twin cities and their number will be doubled very soon to ensure strict implementation of the lockdown guidelines,” he added.
With regard to the purchase of vegetables and groceries, Sarangi advised the people not to use their vehicles and visit the nearby vegetable and grocery shops on foot if they are within one km from their houses. He also requested the neighbours to procure these items for the elderly living near their houses. “To minimise the movement of the people in purchasing these items, efforts are on to further strengthen the home delivery system,” he pointed out.
To a question on the difficulties faced by the people due to the closure of the garages in the twin cities, the police commissioner said that he will take up the matter with the state government.
