Maharashtra govt readies to partially lift curbs as cases rise to 3,321

The state has decided to allow construction work in cities, including Mumbai and Pune, with a rider that prior permission from civic authorities will be mandatory.

The Maharashtra government has started to allow relaxation of rules in several areas of the state. The new rules will come into effect from April 20.

Autorickshaws parked at Maharashtra nagar, Mankhurd during nationwide lockdown due to Corona virus, Mumbai, India, on Friday, April 17 2020. (Photo by Aalok Soni/Hindustan Times)

The state has decided to allow construction work in cities, including Mumbai and Pune, with a rider that prior permission from civic authorities will be mandatory.

According to the order issued by chief secretary Ajoy Mehta on Friday, the state has given permission for all urgent pre-monsoon works.

It has also decided to allow industries to operate in all rural areas of the state; manufacturing and other industrial establishments in special economic zones; industrial townships in non-containment areas, except Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune Municipal Corporation limits. It has further allowed construction activities of roads, buildings and irrigation projects outside the municipal corporation limits.

“The state government is opening up major areas from the lockdown. This is the beginning of economic recycle,” said a senior government official.

Meanwhile, after 25 days of lockdown, the case count of coronavirus in Maharashtra stood at 3,321.

On Friday, 119 new cases were recorded. The death toll of the state rose to 201, with seven more deaths. Among the patients who died, five are from Mumbai and two Pune.

The cases in Mumbai rose by 12 to 2,085.

The mortality rate of the state was 6.05%, higher than the national mortality rate of 3.26%, till Thursday, when Maharashtra’s toll was 194 against 437 in the country, according to data of the state medical education department.

Of the total cases, over one-third cases are in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region with 2,507 cases. Mumbai’s count rose to 2,085 as 12 new cases were recorded in the city. The death toll of the city was 122.

The state health department has conducted 61,740 tests at various public and private facilities till date, in which 56,964 people have tested negative. The state currently has 330 active containment zones. Around 5,850 survey teams comprising doctors and assisting staff have screened more than 20.50 lakh people. Around 331 patients have been discharged from the hospitals after their recovery from the infection. It has also kept 6,376 suspected patients at government quarantine facilities, while 74,587 are home quarantined. “The continuation of works in construction projects within the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities will be allowed where workers are available on site and no workers are required to be brought in from outside (in-situ construction). However, in Mumbai and Pune, with the permission of municipal commissioner. Industries operating in rural areas are also allowed to operate, but outside the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities,” states the order.

“Manufacturing and other industrial establishments with access control in special economic zone, export oriented units, industrial estates and industrial townships are allowed, but only in containment zones. These provisions shall not apply to MMR and Pune Municipal Corporations limits. These establishments shall make arrangements for stay of workers within their premises as far as possible or in adjacent building for implementation of standard operating procedures (SOP). The transportation of workers to work place shall be arranged by the employers in dedicated transport by ensuring social distancing,” it further says.

However, no worker from hotspots or containment zones will be permitted to come to work place, it added.

The order also said that construction of roads, buildings, irrigation projects and all kinds of industrial projects including MSMEs in rural areas are allowed outside the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities. The government has also allowed operation of ecommerce companies and ecommerce of all goods and commodities including food, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, electrical and electronic appliances.

Meanwhile, the state government on Friday issued an advisory to all landlords across the state not to collect rent from those leaving on rent in their houses. It has also instructed them that no tenant should be evicted from the rented houses for non-payment of rent during the lockdown period.

The cabinet sub-committee comprising seven senior ministers, in a slew of decisions, has decided resume online registration of the properties and permit the use of 25% district planning fund for health services among others. It has also allowed to release the remaining part of the March salary of doctors, police with immediate effect.

The sub-committee headed by deputy chief minister and finance minister Ajit Pawar in its meeting held on Monday has given nod to more than a dozen proposals. The state government had deferred the payment of elected representatives and government employees for March due to dwindling revenue collection in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak. Doctors, police, homeguards who are the frontline warriors in the war against the pandemic too were due to the decision owing to the deferment of 25-50% of cut the salary. The sub-committee has decided to release the remaining part immediately. To avoid the loss of the revenue coming through stamp duty and registration due to the lockdown, the decision of resuming the registration online was also taken.

To make funds for health services easily available, the government also decided to allow the district administration to spend 25% of the district planning committees’ funds on Covid-19 related infrastructure. This would facilitate district administrations to spend around ₹245 crore at their level. The sub-committee also decided to give an insurance cover of ₹20 lakh to the employees from rural development department involved in Covid-19 related services. It also decided to ease restrictions on agricultural activities and facilitate grain supply to community kitchens and selling the grapes to the wineries directly. It will also allow e-commerce delivery of all goods and commodities, including food, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, electrical and electronic appliances.

The state has also asked parents to complain to the district education officer if schools insist on paying fees during the lockdown period. State school education minister Varsha Gaikwad made the announcement. “We have issued a circular asking schools not to ask for fees considering the current situation. However, I’m getting several messages from parents across the state alleging that schools still asking for fees to be paid. We urge the parents to register their complaints with the concerned district education officer so that the circular can be implemented in letter and spirit,” Gaikwad said, in a video message on Friday.

The circular of the school education department was issued on March 30.

With the support of the state government, a telemedicine helpline was also started from Friday. The helpline will let people to know if they are infected or not, guide them about the epidemic and will also clear their doubts, if any. All this will be done with the help of expert doctors. ”A person will only have to call on 9513615550. The interactive voice screening system will ask 3-4 questions to the person based on the replies, it will be routed to the relevant doctor who will call back the person and guide him after taking more details,” said Kartik Sahoo from Maharashtra State Innovation Society. The project is started in association with National Health Mission, Maharashtra State Innovation Society, a group of start-ups named ‘Telemeds Versus Covid’ and Pune Platform For Covid Response.

The state government has also allowed cane cutters who have migrated from one district to another for work within the state to return to their villages. There are over 1.31 lakh cane cutters who are stuck in other districts due to lockdown and are currently staying at 38 sugar factories. The order that was issued by chief secretary Ajoy Mehta states, “The sugar factory owners will have to make all the travel arrangements to drop them at their respective villages. Prior to this, the cane cutters have to go through medical check-up for symptoms of pneumonia, cough, cold and fever.”