Maharashtra announces tighter curbs amid Covid-19 crisis. What's open, what's not

Thackeray said tighter restrictions will take a toll on the economy and jobs but urged the residents to follow new rules, adding: "Lives are more important than livelihoods".

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday announced a 15-day curfew in the state in a bid to bring the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) under control and said that just consultations will no longer help.

Vehicles travel past the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST) train station in during a weekend lockdown in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, April 10, 2021. (Bloomberg)

Thackeray said tighter restrictions will take a toll on the economy and jobs but urged the residents to follow new rules, adding: "Lives are more important than livelihoods".

India's worst-hit state is also struggling with oxygen shortages, Thackeray said, asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deploy the air force and send fresh supplies.

"In the last few days, I have interacted with people from all walks of lives, to get consensus. But now discussions will not help. We are facing a shortage of oxygen, beds and an increase in cases has now burdened the health infrastructure," Thackeray said in his address to the citizens.

The new measures follow Maharashtra's move to impose a state-wide weekend curfew that confined the state's 125 million people to their homes until the end of April unless needed for essential services.

Here's what has been restricted:

• The new restrictions will force all "non-essential" shops, malls and e-commerce deliveries to pause operations from Wednesday until May 1.
• Restrictions have also been imposed on the film industry in the state as shooting for movies, television shows and advertisements in Bollywood will also grind to a halt.
• Bars and restaurants, which were shut earlier this month, will not open and public gatherings of more than five people have been banned.
• No one will be allowed to move in a public place without valid reasons.
• All the establishments, public places, activities, services shall remain closed except essential services.

Here's what's open:

• Hospitals, medical institutions to remain functional
• Groceries, vegetable shops, fruit vendors, dairies, bakeries and all type of food shops will be operational.
• Cold storage and warehousing services to remain open
• Public transport such as airplanes, trains, taxis, autos and public buses will ply during the curfew.
• RBI, offices of SEBI such as stock exchanges, depositories, clearing corporations and other SEBI intermediaries to remain open.
• Transport of goods, water supply, agricultural-related activities, export and import of all commodities have been permitted as essential services.
• E-commerce services for the supply of essential goods and services will be allowed.
• Fuel stations and petroleum-related products, all cargo services will be allowed.
• Data centres, cloud services, IT services backing critical infrastructure and services also fall under essential services and hence will be open.
• Government and private security services, electrical and gas supply services, ATMs, postal services, ports and related activities will be open.