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Bengal containment zones to shrink as Mamata offers more relaxations
The Bengal CM also allowed a slew of new relaxations, paving the path towards restoring normalcy.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that containment zones in the state would shrink in size to offer relaxation to more people as the government would divide the containment zones into three categories.
Banerjee also allowed a slew of new relaxations, paving the path towards restoring normalcy.
The containment zones would be split into A, B, and C – referring to the affected area, buffer zone and clean areas, respectively. Lockdown will remain in force in containment zone A, while in B there would be certain restrictions. Normal activities will be allowed in zone C.
The chief minister said all shops, except for those in areas classified as Containment Zone A, will open from May 21. These include salons and beauty parlours.
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As of May 18, the state had 612 containment zones, 339 of which were in Kolkata alone, with another 114 in North 24-Parganas and 76 in Howrah district.
“Masks and gloves are mandatory for every shopkeeper or employee. Specific guidelines will be issued for salons and beauty parlours, where the sitting arrangements and equipment would have to be sanitized after use by every customer,” Mamata Banerjee said at the state secretariat on Monday.
She also said that the government was not announcing a curfew from 7pm to 7 am, as has been declared by the Union government, but urged people not to gather after 7 pm.
“We are not announcing a curfew because it sounds bad but we urge you to avoid gathering and ensure that the police do not need to slap cases on you. The police will act if gatherings take place,” she said.
From May 27, Banerjee plans to allow hawker-run markets to open with 50% shops opening on alternate days. The police and the municipal authorities have been asked to formulate the mechanism for opening hawker-run markets that usually operate on pavements.
The state will also allow auto-rickshaws to ply with two passengers. Usually, in Kolkata, auto-rickshaws ply with four passengers and in the district with five passengers.
To bring back migrant workers, the state will requisition the railways for 120 more trains, adding the total trains requisitioned to 225, Banerjee announced.
The chief minister also described the economic reforms and new economic policies announced by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the last four days as “a big zero.”
“The whole thing is a lie. We neither got rosogolla nor rajbhog,” said the chief minister, referring to two popular Bengali sweets that are both spherical in shape.
“The FRBM relaxation to 5% actually works out to 0.5%. If we want to avail the whole of it then the state will have to give up its autonomy. There are conditions that say we have to increase the price of goods in municipal areas and give up our control of the public distribution system. We cannot do either. It is better to walk the path alone,” said Banerjee.
“We got nothing (from Centre) to fight the Covid pandemic. There are states that imposed additional cess on petrol. We did not do such a thing,” said Banerjee.
Banerjee also reacted to the case of more than 350 nurses from private Covid-19 hospitals returning to their home states and said the government would be working with the hospitals to find a solution and see if unskilled people can be taken and trained to do basic jobs.
