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Sukhna Lake closed at weekends amid Covid surge in Chandigarh
Imposing fresh restrictions, Chandigarh administration also shuts Rock Garden on all days and extends night curfew by half an hour, from 10pm to 5am
In a bid to control the spread of Covid-19 cases, the Chandigarh administration on Tuesday decided to reintroduce weekend closure at Sukhna Lake. Rock Garden has also been shut on all days till the situation improves.
The administration even extended the night curfew by half an hour. Now, it will be imposed from 10pm to 5am, instead of 10:30pm to 5am. In the neighbouring districts of Mohali and Panchkula, the timings are 9pm to 5am.
The decisions were taken in the review meeting held under UT administrator VP Singh Badnore.
UT adviser Manoj Parida said: “Mostly tourists visit Rock Garden. We closed it to check the spread of infection from those coming from outside. Even the lake is visited by many tourists and locals on weekends, leading to crowding.”
All non-essential travel will remain banned during the night curfew. All restaurants, eating joints and food courts in malls will have to shut down by 9.30pm, and can accept orders till 8.30pm. Various exemptions already declared will remain in place.
The limit for political, social and religious gatherings will be restricted to 200 for outdoor events and 100 for indoor events, as has been notified earlier.
The administration also considered the option of reintroducing the odd-even rule for closure of shops, as was done in the initial weeks of the lockdown last year. However, the decision was deferred, keeping in view the economic needs of the trade and industry.
Parida clarified that there are no plans to impose a complete lockdown in Chandigarh.
Curbs imposed in 57 more areas
Deputy commissioner Mandip Brar said that 57 new micro-containment zones have been declared in the city on Tuesday, taking the total to 122.
With four each, the maximum number of areas where curbs were imposed on Tuesday are in Sectors 33 and 49. They are followed by Sectors 20, 46 and 47 with three micro-containment zones each. There are two each in Sectors 7, 9, 18, 19, 24, 27, 29, 37, 44, 45 and 63 and one each in Sectors 2, 4, 11, 15, 22, 23, 30, 34, 35, 39, 41, 48, 50, 51, Subhash Nagar, Pipliwala Town and Khuda Lahora.
Brar told the administrator that 58,000 challans have been issued against people violating the Covid protocol. On this, Badnore directed the director general of police to intensify the drive. He also appealed resident welfare and market associations besides NGOs and political leaders to help the administration in its fight against the pandemic.
Ramp up testing, vaccination: Badnore
Expressing concern over the rising number of cases, Badnore urged residents to take advantage of Tika Utsav and get themselves vaccinated.
He specifically directed the health workers and frontline workers to take the advantage of priority slots available to them, since the facility may be discontinued soon. He also directed all stakeholders, including private hospitals, to plan better and ensure that vaccine doses are not wasted.
The administrator directed the health department to intensify screening and testing. He ordered placement of mobile vans in crowded places, such as temples and gurdwaras during Navratri, so that the devotees could be screened.
Dr Amandeep Kang, director health services, said that seven mobile teams have been sent to various crowded places, including the railway station and bus stands, for screening and testing the visitors.
Dr Jagat Ram, director, PGIMER, told the administrator that they have 223 Covid patients at the Nehru Extension Block. Badnore directed him to enhance the bed capacity and also asked Dr Jasbinder Kaur, director principal, GMCH, Sector 32, to take similar measures at the hospital in Sector 48. He also advised them to provide RT-PCR test reports on time, so that infection could be contained.
