E-Paper
Himachal imposes 10-day ‘corona curfew’
Restrictions will be in place from the midnight of May 6 till May 16; all offices will remain shut, only essential services will be allowed to operate
Amid an unprecedented surge in infections across Himachal Pradesh, the state government on Wednesday decided to impose a 10-day ‘coronavirus curfew’ across the hill state.
The lockdown-like restrictions will be in place from the midnight of May 6 till May 16. The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting called to review the coronavirus situation in the state. Announcing the fresh restrictions, Cabinet spokesperson and urban development minister Suresh Bhardwaj said, “In order to break the virus’ chain, the Cabinet has decided to impose corona curfew across state.”
Educational institutions across Himachal Pradesh will remain closed till May 31. The state board has been asked to cancel the Class 10 exams and promote all students to Class 11. Annual exams for Class 12 and colleges will also remain suspended till further orders.
All government and private offices will remain closed from May 7 to the midnight of May 16. However, essential services such as health, electricity, telecommunication, water supply and sanitation will not be disrupted.
Work will continue at civil, horticultural, agricultural and other project sites. All government and private transport will ply at 50% occupancy and inter-state transport will continue. Industrial establishments will work as per the state government’s guidelines.
Apart from instating Covid regulations, the Cabinet also gave its nod to create specialised HP Revenue (State Taxes and Excise) Services in place of the existing posts in the department.
It green lighted a jal shakti circle at Dharampur, Mandi, and a jal shakti division at Thanakalan in Kutlehar Vidhan Sabha area of Una district. It also gave its nod to shift the existing staff and infrastructure in jal shakti sub-division 2, Una to Basal for better administrative functioning of the division.
The ministers agreed to increase the beds at the regional hospital in Una to 300 and to create 76 posts to ensure better healthcare facilities to the people of the area.
