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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\nPeople walk along a deserted street (File photo, AFP)<\/span><\/p>\n KOLKATA: Residents of West Bengal woke up to empty roads and deserted public places on Wednesday as a complete lockdown was enforced across the state to break the chain of surging coronavirus cases.
All public transport, government and private offices, banks and other commercial establishments, barring those dealing with essential services, remained closed as the biweekly strict restrictions were enforced.
Flight operations in and out of the Kolkata international airport were also suspended for the day.
Long-distance trains were also rescheduled due to the lockdown.
Essential services like medicine shops and health establishments remained open as these were kept out of the purview of the complete shutdown. Petrol pumps are also allowed to remain open on the lockdown days.
Police personnel were seen patrolling major traffic intersections of the city.
Schools, colleges and other educational institutes have remained closed in the state since late March when the first phase of the nationwide lockdown started.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had on Tuesday said that the biweekly total lockdown decision was taken after consulting with experts to curb the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the state.
The total lockdown will be on seven days in August.
The death toll due to Covid-19 in West Bengal rose to 1,449 on Tuesday as 38 more people succumbed to the disease, as per a state health department bulletin.
A total of 2,134 fresh cases pushed the state’s tally to 62,964, it said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n