Raipur: The Chhattisgarh government on Monday extended the ongoing lockdown period in major cities till August 6 amid a surge in Covid-19 cases. The affected cities are Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Rajnanadgaon and others.

Raipur administration has decided to relax lockdown for 2 days i.e today and tomorrow ahead of Rakshabandhan. The Apex body has allowed local market in the capital to open from 6 am till 10 in the morning.

In view of the Raksha Bandhan festival, the decision has come as a relief for the ‘Raipurians’ as people , but the massive crowd gathering at all the shops may defeat the very purpose of the lockdown. People were seen flouting the social distancing.

A large crowd of people gathered at Golbazar in Raipur to purchase rakhi and essential goods. People not only broke the rules of social distancing, but also invited serious threat of coronavirus. Meanwhile, a long line of vehicles can be see on the road in Dumratarai Main Market. Due to which the road were blocked and people were in for a long queue.

Chhattisgarh, where the infection has spread in all the 28 districts, has reported 8,286 Covid-19 cases till Tuesday night. Out of them, 2,801 were active cases and 5439 patients were discharged while 46 others have died of the infection.