Markets to remain shut in Chandigarh on weekends

Govt offices closed too; eateries, hotels, private offices allowed to operate

Reacting to weekend restrictions imposed in Punjab and Haryana in the wake of surge in Covid-19 cases, the Chandigarh administration too swung into action on Friday night, ordering closure of all shops and malls this Saturday and Sunday. The restrictions have been imposed “till further orders” though a review will be done on Monday.

All government offices, including the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA), will also remain closed during the weekend.

“However, restaurants, hotels and private offices can remain open during the weekend. The decision will be reviewed on Monday,” said UT adviser Manoj Kumar Parida. The order also does not affect those providing essential goods, such as medicines, groceries, milk and vegetables. However, liquor shops remain closed.

Parida said there will be no change in curfew timings, which will continue to be in force from 10pm to 5am. “There will be no ban on movement of people during the weekend,” he said.

“Chandigarh too announces weekend lockdown in tandem with Haryana and Punjab in hope to break the chain of virus in tricity; onus now again on the people to act responsibly and understand the gravity of the situation. Keep following the health advisories,” wrote UT administrator VPS Badnore on Twitter.

‘Didn’t want people to rush to UT’

Significantly, in Friday’s war room meeting, which was held in the afternoon, the administration didn’t take a decision on the issue of fresh restrictions. The decision came only after Haryana’s orders came out in the evening.

Haryana had on Friday announced that all offices and shops except essential services will remain shut on weekends while the Punjab government had on Thursday ordered extension of weekend lockdown with daily night curfew from 7pm to 5am in the state.

“With both Punjab and Haryana imposing weekend restrictions, we didn’t want to people to rush to Chandigarh for their weekend purchases. So, the decision was taken late night,” said Parida.

The total tally of positive cases stands at 2,631 in Chandigarh. On Friday, 116 fresh cases were reported in the city.

The UT had on July 20 suggested to both Punjab and Haryana to impose weekend curfew in the tricity, but both states had responded in the negative. Consequently, the administration didn’t impose the proposed weekend curfew in the city, though it had introduced other restrictions like closing down of Sukhna Lake on weekends. It had also reintroduced odd-even formula for opening of congested markets, which primarily included all rehri markets, motor markets and some internal markets of sectors.

FOUR NEW MICRO-CONTAINMENT ZONES

The administration on Friday declared four new micro-containment zones.

These include a block of 11 houses from No. 491 to 495 and No. 501 to 506 in Sector 15, a block of 32 flats from No. 6445 to 6448-C and No. 6449 to 6452-C in Sector 56, and a block of six houses from No. 1613 to 1618 (ground floors only) in Sector 40.

Strict perimeter control will be maintained in these containment zones. Meanwhile, perimeter control imposed on a designated containment zone of 23 flats in Sector 46 has been directed to be removed.