Dhaka North City Corporation will set up 10 cattle markets in its area ahead of Eid-ul-Azha maintaining Covid health rules and government restrictions, Mayor Atiqul Islam said Sunday. The mayor said this while attending a meeting with the sacrificial animal haat monitoring committee and lease holders of the haats. Ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, one permanent and nine makeshift haats will be set up in the DNCC area, he said. Also read: Authorities disperse an illegal cattle market in Panchagarh To monitor the 10 haats, a 14-member committee has already been formed including 12 councillors, 2 veterinary officers, where ward-19 councillor Md Mofizur Rahman was made the convener, he added.  Atiqul Islam said, in every haat, 100 volunteers will be appointed from the Shakti Foundation with enough surgical masks while leaseholders will ensure hand sanitizers and necessary hygiene materials in every haat. Enough number of body temperature measuring machines will be made available at the haats, he said. Also read: Authorities permit 3 makeshift cattle markets in Chattagram, set 17 conditions Traders and buyers all will have to maintain social distance and health rules in the haat as the area will be under surveillance by CCTV cameras, said the mayor. The DNCC mayor said, sacrificial animals brought in the haats will also be available online for customers to see.

Bangladesh passed the first day of its weeklong lockdown on Monday.  A record rise in the number of cases in recent days prompted the government to go for the tough measure, the second time since Covid-19 cases were first reported in March last year. On Sunday, when the lockdown announcement came, health authorities recorded 7,087 new cases. A day later, the number was 7,075. Only essential service providers are allowed to operate during the lockdown. But shop owners in Dhaka and Chattogram came out on the streets and demanded that the operation of businesses during the lockdown be allowed. They incurred huge losses during last year’s Eid festivals when the country was under lockdown to tackle the transmission of the virus. Traders see their highest sales during the Eid season. With Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest festivals of Muslims, scheduled to be celebrated in mid-May, an extension of the lockdown will be devastating for them, the traders said. Meanwhile, the people seemed reluctant about following the government's orders. For many small shops and businesses, it was business as usual. In many areas, police forced the shops to close but they reopened as soon as the policemen went away. People seemed reluctant about abiding by health guidelines. Although the number of people wearing masks has apparently increased, they are still ignoring the physical distancing rules and crowding tea stalls and roadside shops for evening chats. The following photos were taken from Dhaka and Chattogram.