Shopping malls to remain closed, hotels and restaurant to reopen in Gurugram, Faridabad

A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting in Chandigarh, which was chaired by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. In the meeting, the CM directed that commercial activities should be regulated following the guidelines and instructions issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs amid the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic.

Shopping malls, religious places, places of worship for the public will remain closed in Gurugram and Faridabad but will be allowed to open in a regulated manner in all other districts of Haryana from June 8. However, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services are likely to reopen across the state, including in Gurugram and Faridabad, with generic preventive measures and at 50% capacity. All commercial establishments will operate between 9am and 8pm, the government said on Saturday.

All commercial establishments will operate between 9am and 8pm, the government said on Saturday. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT Photo)

A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting in Chandigarh, which was chaired by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. In the meeting, the CM directed that commercial activities should be regulated following the guidelines and instructions issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs amid the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic.

Dushyant Chautala, the deputy chief minister, confirmed that except Gurugram and Faridabad, shopping malls will reopen in the rest of the state, but all safeguards pertaining to social distancing will have to be followed. “Due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases, religious places and shopping malls will not reopen in Gurugram and Faridabad,” he said, adding that restaurants will be allowed to reopen at 50% capacity and directions in this regard will be issued by respective district administrations.

As per the latest directions, there will be no buffet service, only a la carte (ordering individually on the menu) services. Bars in restaurants will not be allowed to reopen. Room service or takeaways for dine-in rooms will be allowed.

Gaming arcades and children play areas (wherever applicable) will remain closed.

Banquet halls will be allowed to operate with a maximum of 50 guests at a time; they will have to follow the norms of social distancing.

The government has also decided that there will be no congregation or mass gathering for prayers. Only individual prayers will be allowed and no physical offering like prasad distribution or sprinkling of holy water will be allowed inside the religious place.

It was also decided that community kitchens/langars/ann-daan, etc. at religious places should follow physical distancing norms while preparing and distributing food.