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Red zone tag stays or goes: Chandigarh admn to take call this week
On May 17, the Centre had empowered the states and UTs to delineate a red zone into an orange zone
The Chandigarh administration will decide on changing the red zone tag of the city to orange zone within this week.
The city was designated a red zone by the central government on April 15. On May 17, the Centre had empowered the states and UTs to delineate a red zone into an orange zone.
UT adviser Manoj Kumar Parida said, “The administration will be taking a call on the issue within this week after taking stock of the situation on the ground.”
Parida said the administration was considering allowing opening of salons and barber shops in the next couple of days. The barber shops will have to be opened as per the standard operating protocol prepared by the administration.
ADDRESSING ISSUES OF CONTAINMENT ZONES
Deputy commissioner (DC) Mandip Singh Brar said though there is a lot of restlessness in the minds of those residing in the containment areas, as per the Centre’s guidelines, further relaxation could not be given. Any relaxation in entry/exit has a risk of infecting the rest of the city. He, however, said all essential items were being provided to the residents through the administration’s machinery.
The DC has directed sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) to facilitate solutions to the problems faced by people in the six containment zones in the city — Bapu Dham Colony, parts of Sector 30, Kachhi Colony in Dhanas, Shastri Nagar, parts of Sector 52 and parts of Sector 38.
Brar said, “SDMs have been authorised to actively persuade those employers who are threatening to fire people living in containment zones. It is not the fault of people living in such zones. Everybody needs to have sympathetic attitude and help people living in containment zones.”
DE-CONTAINMENT AFTER NO CASE FOR 28 DAYS
Brar said a locality can only be free from containment zone tag if there is no positive case reported there for 28 consecutive days.
Given that no case is reported from the areas for the stipulated period, the expected timeline for the same has been fixed as May 26 for parts of Sector 38, May 27 for Sector 52, May 30 for Shastri Nagar, June 4 for parts of Sector 30, and June 8 for Kachhi Colony.
