Maharashtra imposes curfew, essential services to run

Maharashtra chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday stopped short of declaring a complete lockdown, but announced tough restrictions, including the prohibitory order under Section 144, restricting movement of people from Wednesday 8pm till May 1, in a bid to break the chain of transmission of Covid-19 in the state

Maharashtra chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday stopped short of declaring a complete lockdown, but announced tough restrictions, including the prohibitory order under Section 144, restricting movement of people from Wednesday 8pm till May 1, in a bid to break the chain of transmission of Covid-19 in the state. The state reported over 60,000 fresh Covid-19 cases on Tuesday. Thackeray, in an address to the state on Tuesday, also announced a package of ₹5,476 crore to help marginalised sections, including daily wagers, rickshaw drivers, maids, construction workers, among others, during this period.

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With the imposition of Section 144, people will not be able to travel far from home for non-essential activities. However, essential services have been exempted from restrictions between 7am and 8pm. Thackeray said rising cases have burdened the state’s health infrastructure and merely discussions cannot be afforded.

“From tomorrow [Wednesday] 8pm Section 144 will be imposed to break the chain of transmission for the next 15 days. We will have to completely stop unnecessarily stepping out of the home, till now I used to say, avoid stepping out. I expect you to observe ‘Janta curfew’ and not step out of the home, unless absolutely necessary,” Thackeray said in his address.

Announcing the new restrictions, the chief minister put the onus on citizens to adhere to Covid-19 safety measures in order to prevent the spread. “People have to decide whether they want to help corona or the government that is working to curb it.”

He added, “We had two laboratories, now it has gone to 523, but the load on them has increased. We used to test around 85,000 samples, now it has gone to 250,000 [daily]. The last time we had 2,665 Covid Care Centers, which has been increased to nearly 4,000. All types of hospital beds, including isolation, oxygenated, ICU, etc, have increased from 325,000 to 350,000. But now, these facilities are burdened.” He further said that the administration has been instructed to ramp up health infrastructure.

Hospitals, diagnostic centres, clinics, vaccinations, medical insurance offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies, other medical and health services, groceries, vegetable shops, fruit vendors, dairies, bakeries, cold storage and warehousing services, public transport, including flights, trains, taxis, autos, and public buses, transport services, pre-monsoon work, banks, ATMs, Sebi recognised institutions, agriculture-related activities, petrol pumps, etc have been categorised in the essential category by the order issued by chief secretary Sitaram Kunte under “Break the Chain” initiative of the state.

Shopping centres, malls, film and serial shootings, beaches, gardens, will be shut. Curbs will remain for hotels and restaurants, though home delivery and takeaways will be allowed. Similarly, theatres, auditoriums, amusement parks, water parks, gymnasiums, swimming pools, clubs, will remain shut. Religious places of worship will remain closed. Barbar shops, spas, salons, and beauty parlors will remain closed. Shopkeepers and others in essential services will be fined if they do not follow Covid rules, including vaccination.

Public transport, including trains, taxis, autorickshaws, public buses, have not been stopped. However, they will operate with some restrictions. Autos will be allowed to have two passengers only, excluding the driver; taxis will be allowed to operate with 50% of vehicle capacity, while public buses will not be allowed to ferry any standees. Ecommerce will be allowed for the delivery of essential goods and services. Milk and newspapers will be allowed to be delivered at home. Manufacturing units for essential services can run on full capacity.

The suburban trains, however, will not be open to general public. It will only operate for people who are associated with essential services for the next 15 days.

Informing the people about the low availability of oxygen in the state, Thackeray said he will be writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the air force to supply oxygen in the state. He added that the states permitted to supply oxygen include north eastern states and West Bengal “I am going to write to prime minister to allow other states to supply oxygen to Maharashtra. Instead of by road transport of oxygen from other state, if we can get oxygen through the support of Air Force. By the time, supply reaches the state by road, the situation will worsen in the state,” he said.

Thackeray said that the government was aware of the hardships faced by the poor due to the restrictions and that the state government had decided to take steps to provide some relief. “Seven crore beneficiaries under the food security scheme will get 3 kg wheat and 2 kg rice per person for free for one month. The Shiv Bhojan thali, which was priced at Rs5, will be provided for free,” he said.

The government will also provide Rs1,500 to each of the 1.2 million registered construction workers and 0.5 million registered hawkers. 1.2 registered rickshaw drivers will be given Rs1,500 as their livelihood will be impacted due to the restrictions. Around 12 lakh Tribal families will be paid Rs2,000 per family under the Khavti scheme and Rs3,300 crore are being given via district-level schemes in fight against the pandemic, he said.

Thackeray also appealed to opposition political parties to not politicise the fight against Covid-19, but instead joins hands with the government to beat the pandemic.

Leader of opposition in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, advised the government to use Rs3,300 crore allocated for adding beds, medical equipment, etc.

Fadnavis criticised the government relief package and said, “Chief minister only thought of a few sections. No relief was provided for Bara Balutedar, small business owners, workers in saloons, flower vendors. They constitute a major chunk of the workforce, they must immediately take decision to include them. The state should have announced concessions for electricity bills, property tax, GST etc. We demand that the government must immediately take decision in this regard, “ Fadnavis said in a series of tweets.