India observes 'Janata Curfew' today in fight against Coronavirus menace

Hours before, the Janata curfew started from 7 AM on Sunday, PM Modi made an appeal to citizens to stay indoors and be healthy.

"In a few minutes from now, the #JantaCurfew commences. Let us all be a part of this curfew, which will add tremendous strength to the fight against COVID-19 menace. The steps we take now will help in the times to come. Stay indoors and stay healthy. #IndiaFightsCorona," his tweet read.

His suit was followed up by Union Home Miniter Amit Shah who urged people to adhere to PM's advice and participate in the Janata Curfew to break the chain of this highly contagious COVID-19 infections.

His post read: "As #JantaCurfew, people’s movement begins, I pledge to strictly follow PM @narendramodi  ji’s call. I also urge my fellow countrymen to participate. Let’s break the chain and protect our nation against this pandemic with social distancing and self isolation. #IndiaFightsCorona."

In a series of tweets, PM Modi also shared videos showing how people are observing the Janata Curfew.

The day-long Janata Curfew (from 7 AM to 9 PM) was announced by the PM in his address to the nation on Thursday night in the wake of the rapid spike in the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the country.

Modi addressing the nation on Thursday urged all to adopt resolve and restraint as well as social distancing to fight the menace of the virus and directed them to observe 'Janata Curfew' on Sunday by staying home, to help contain the infection spread.

This is perhaps one of the biggest national exercises India has undertaken to fight the spread of the infectious disease, which has been declared as 'pandemic' by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Ahead of the commencement of the 'Janata Curfew', PM Modi also urged people to refrain from travelling.

In a couple of tweets, Modi said, "Lots of my brothers and sisters are leaving cities where they work and travelling to their villages out of Coronavirus scare. The chances of spreading of the virus enhances with travelling in a crowd. Your travel will be a threat to the people of the villages where you are travelling to. Your village and family will be in more trouble."

"I pray to you that you be in the city where you are now for few days. This will help us to stop the spread of the virus..... Please think about yourself and your family. Do not travel if there is no urgency," tweeted the Prime Minister.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Friday said it will keep its service closed on Sunday.

Except for businesses and government establishments that deal in essential items and services, all others will remain shut throughout Sunday.

Several businesses have voluntarily announced they would follow the PM's call for 'Janata Curfew.'

The Indian Railways announced that no long-distance or suburban trains will run on Sunday but those already running won't be stopped during the curfew period.

Starting Sunday, the government has banned the landing of all international commercial flights in India for a week.

The government said in an advisory, "No scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall be allowed to land in India from March 22, 2020 for one week."

During his address on Thursday, PM Modi also urged people to thank all those service sector employees like medical practitioners, health and sanitation workers, delivery agents and so on who are regularly doing their duties without fearing that the infection might affect them.

"On Sunday evening at 5 pm, 22nd March, we will thank all those people who serve us during difficult times without bothering about their own health," he had said.

As of the world scenario, the novel Coronavirus, which started in China's Wuhan, has infected over 3 lakhs people and claimed the lives of 13,000.