Maharashtra mulls even tougher curbs if rules not followed

A day after a complete lockdown began across Maharashtra, the state machinery was disappointed by the violation of restrictions in most parts of the state, pushing the government to warn people of even stricter curbs related to trains, markets for essential services in a couple of days if they did not follow the rules

A day after a complete lockdown began across Maharashtra, the state machinery was disappointed by the violation of restrictions in most parts of the state, pushing the government to warn people of even stricter curbs related to trains, markets for essential services in a couple of days if they did not follow the rules. The state government is also expected to instruct district authorities once again about a stricter implementation of lockdown curbs.

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Maharashtra government imposed lockdown across the state, excluding essential services and public transport, for two weeks beginning from 8pm on Wednesday till 7 am on May 1. The response to the lockdown on its first day was a mixed bag in the state. Crowds were witnessed at market places, while crowding in local trains in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), too, was evident during the peak hours.

Relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar hinted at imposing even stricter curbs for the essential sectors. The minister said that the state government is expected to take a decision in that respect.

“People were found violating lockdown norms on day one of the lockdown, which was distressing. If this continues, we will take a decision in the next two days to impose stricter curbs on essential services, petrol pumps. A decision will have to be taken about local train travel too.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has already spoken about stricter restrictions if the expected results of the lockdown was not found. We will take a firm decision about it,” he said.

Wadettiwar said t the state may even think of restricting operation of petrol pumps to only for vehicles involved in essential and emergency services.

According to officials from Mantralaya, although the footfall at public places has reduced, it was not as expected. “The people are not taking it in the right spirit and are finding loopholes for violation of rules. Day by day the Covid-19 situation is worsening. Compared to last year’s lockdown, there is 40% more crowding at public places. It may be because of the decision of keeping public transport on. If this continues, the timing of operations of shops and establishments dealing in essential commodities are likely to be reduced. They will either be allowed to stay open for fewer hours or will be allowed to operate on alternate days. Similarly, the govenrment may also tap the idea of restricting operations of local trains in MMR,” said an official, requesting anonymity.

Thackeray, during his meeting with district administrations on Wednesday, instructed them to enforce restrictions very strictly and take action against violators. “This time preventing the infection is very difficult and therefore the strict enforcement by the revenue and police machinery was very important. Do not lower your guard as we cannot afford to spread the infection further. There should not be any confusion while implementing the curbs,” he said. He also had told district authorities to shut down even essential services if the violation was found.

“People are taking the situation very casually. Rather than enforcement by the machinery, the citizens are expected to follow the restrictions as social responsibility. The district administrations and police force will have to ensure more rigorous implementation of lockdown curbs,” Sitaram Kunte, chief secretary, Maharashtra said on Thursday.

After the announcement of the lockdown on Tuesday evening, a few district collectors had requested the state government for relaxations, while most of them sought clarification on certain curbs. The state has, however, clarified that there would not be any relaxations given in the lockdown curbs and it needs to be implemented in toto. To answer doubts, the government issued a detailed clarification in form of response to frequently asked questions.