Highway garages, dhabas in Hazaribag to open for truckers

HAZARIBAG: The district administration has decided to open roadside dhabas and garages along National Highways 2 and 33 falling in its jurisdiction, despite the nationwide lockdown, to facilitate smooth movement of heavy vehicles carrying essentials to the Hazaribag region. Talking to TOI on Thursday, Hazaribag DC Bhuvanesh Pratap Singh said the decision was taken after they came across problems faced by long-distance truck drivers ferrying essential commodities.He said, “Many essential items like food, medicine and other commodities are being transported to Hazaribag from northern parts of the country. Drivers of a few trucks which arrived recently talked about the problems they faced on the way. Apart from facing hunger and thirst, the drivers had to face problems when their vehicles broke down as there were no functional garages. Hence, we decided to allow opening of eateries and garages on the highways in our jurisdiction.”
He, however, said the administration, through respective police stations, will keep a tight vigil to prevent leisure trips to the dhabas. On ensuring safety and maintaining hygiene in the eateries, Singh said, “I have directed respective block development officers and in-charge of police stations to oversee that the highway dhabas are properly sanitised and follow government advisories related to social distancing.”