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Telangana extends night curfew by a week, imposes curbs on public gatherings
The Telangana government on Thursday night declared that there was no question of imposing any kind of lockdown – partial or total, to contain the spread of Coronavirus on the ground that it would lead to the total collapse of the financial system of the state.
The Telangana government on Friday announced the extension of night curfew for one more week to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the state, while imposing further restrictions on public gatherings.
The orders were issued by chief secretary Somesh Kumar in the evening. The night curfew – from 9 pm to 6 am the following day – will continue till May 15.
“All business establishments, hotels and other offices should be closed by 8 pm. Collectors and superintendents of police, besides commissioners of police in all major cities have been empowered to implement the night curfew,” the chief secretary said.
The state government also imposed restrictions on public gatherings like marriages and other such events. Only 100 members would be allowed to attend any such event under strict compliance of Covid-19 norms.
Similarly, for funerals, not more than 20 people would be allowed. The government completely banned political meetings, rallies, sports and other entertainment programmes in view of the Covid-19 situation.
The Telangana government on Thursday night declared that there was no question of imposing any kind of lockdown – partial or total, to contain the spread of Coronavirus on the ground that it would lead to the total collapse of the financial system of the state.
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who held a high-level official meeting at his camp office late on Thursday, told officials that a lockdown would make life stand still and would affect the livelihood of over 25-30 lakh migrant workers from other states who work in Telangana.
“Moreover, there is bumper yield of paddy in the state and workers are busy in procurement activity in 6144 procurement centres in the state. There are lakhs of people involved in the process. What will happen to the workers who have come from other states and are working in the rice mills, if lockdown is imposed? The entire paddy purchasing process will come to a standstill if lockdown is imposed,” he said.
He said if the lockdown was imposed, it would lead to panic. “Hence we are not ready for lockdown. However, we will identify the areas where the cases of infection are more and declare them as micro-level containment zones and take the required measures,” he explained.
According to the official bulletin from the state medical and health department, Telangana reported 5,559 new Covid-19 infections and 41 fatalities as on Friday evening, taking the cumulative number of positive cases to 4,87,199 and total deaths to 2,666. The number of active cases in Telangana currently stands at 71,308.
