Uttarakhand CM Rawat shortens night curfew timing, cites festival celebrations

The state has imposed a night curfew in Dehradun from 10pm to 5am to combat Covid-19.

Amid rising cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Tuesday reduced the timings for night curfew citing upcoming festival celebrations in the state, officials said.

Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat shortened the night curfew in the state which will now be imposed from 10:30 pm to 5 am now. (PTI)

A statement from the CM's office said that Rawat has shortened the night curfew, which will now be imposed from 10:30pm to 5am now. "This is applicable for the areas where night curfew is already imposed," the statement from CMO said.

The state has imposed a night curfew in Dehradun from 10pm to 5am to combat Covid-19. The state cabinet decided to shut schools for classes 1 to 12 in Dehradun, Haldwani, and Haridwar till April 30.

The decision to relax the curbs in the state comes as the country celebrates Hindu festival of Chaitra Navratri or Vasant Navratri during the spring season in India. It is considered to be an important nine-day celebration for the Hindu community.

This year Chaitra Navratri is being celebrated from April 13 to April 22. The festival is much like Maha Navratri, dedicated to the nine different forms of Goddess Durga, collectively known as Navdurga.

The state has close to 8,000 active cases after 1,334 new cases were reported on Monday. The Uttarakhand government has allowed marriage gatherings with up to 200 people outside containment zones in the state.

In a statement, Uttarakhand chief secretary Om Prakash said that weddings outside containment zones will have a gathering of 200 people, who will have to abide by Covid-19 appropriate behavior.

India on Tuesday recorded a total of 1,61,736 new coronavirus infections, pushing cumulative tally of cases to 1,36,89,453, even as the national Covid-19 recovery rate dropped further to 89.51 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The death toll increased to 1,71,058 with 879 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.