6pm to 6am curfew in Pune from tomorrow; restaurants, malls, religious places to remain closed till April 9

Although new measures have been taken, all essential services are exempted from the restrictions. Besides curfew post evening, assembly of more than four persons has been prohibited during the daytime

Stringent restrictions will be imposed in the Pune district from Saturday (April 3) evening, as curfew will be imposed between 6pm and 6am. Also, eateries, malls, cinema halls and religious places will remain closed for the next seven days (till April 9).

The administration, however, has decided against imposing a complete lockdown, similar to the last year, even as cases are rising sharply in Pune with a weekly positivity rate touching 32 per cent. (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

The administration, however, has decided against imposing a complete lockdown, similar to the last year, even as cases are rising sharply in Pune with a weekly positivity rate touching 32 per cent.

Saurabh Rao, Pune divisional commissioner, announced the restrictions after a review of the situation in Pune in a meeting chaired by Ajit Pawar, deputy chief minister and Pune district guardian minister, on Friday.

Although new measures have been taken, all essential services are exempted from the restrictions. Besides curfew post evening, assembly of more than four persons has been prohibited during the daytime.

The administration has also suspended the public transport service run by Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) for common citizens. The intra-city buses will, however, continue to run for those engaged in essential services. The state transport bus service and inter-district travel have been allowed.

The new measures will come into force from 6pm, Saturday and will be reviewed by next Friday.

During the press conference, Rao said while eateries, restaurants and bars will be closed for seven days, parcel service and home delivery will be allowed. The closure order will not apply to shops selling clothes and liquor.

“The situation in Pune district has been deteriorating. Until last week, Pune’s positivity rate was up to 27 per cent. But this week the positivity rate has reached 32 per cent. According to the health experts, if this situation persists, we will have 9,000 positive cases per day from the existing daily caseload of 8,000. After the discussion in the meeting with elected representatives, these decisions have been taken. We are also focusing on increasing health infrastructure by ramping up beds,” said Rao.

According to new measures, the weekly markets in rural areas of the district and parts of the city have been banned while Market Yard (Agriculture Produce Market Committee) at Gultekdi will be operational under the watch of authorities to ensure norms are being followed.

The swimming pools and clubhouses in societies have been asked to shut.

The schools and colleges will continue to be closed till April 30. Rao, however, clarified that students of Class 12 and Class 10 are exempted from these restrictions, while competitive examination coaching classes will be allowed to operate with 50 per cent capacity.

In a separate order issued by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) all the gyms, sport complexes, swimming pools in Pune city will remain closed for next seven days.

“We were eagerly waiting for the decisions. Though the official lockdown is not declared, I fear that the situation will be the same as the lockdown. The public bus transport service is closed. Roadside eatery stalls will be closed. It will surely affect our number of customers,” said Sanjeev Phadtare, secretary, Tulshibaug Traders Association.