Photos: Govt offices reopen, traffic returns with lockdown relaxations

States across India on Monday partially lifted curbs put in place during the lockdown to break the chain of coronavirus infections. Prime Minister Modi had announced on April 14 that while lockdown will be extended till May 3 some curbs would be lifted in places outside “containment zones”. The relaxations come in a bid to revive economies kept on pause for nearly a month. Here’s what the first day of relaxations partly eased looked like.

Updated on: Apr 20, 2020 8:52 PM IST

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Cars parked at Raisina Hills as ministries and government offices resume work at reduced strength in New Delhi on April 20. In his address to the nation on April 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that certain areas, non-coronavirus hotspots and regions not facing the threat of Covid-19 spread, could resume some activities from April 20. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)

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Commuters cross police barricades at Ghazipur border to enter New Delhi. Keeping in mind the number of containment zones --up to 83 as of Monday --and risk of contagion, Delhi has decided to provide the general public no relaxation in lockdown restrictions. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

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Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla arrives at Parliament House on April 20. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats have resumed functioning with extensive social distancing protocols in place and wearing of masks made mandatory for all persons entering Parliament premises. (Mohd Zakir/HT Photo)

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Employees practising social distancing while at work in an office, in Kolkata. West Bengal’s jute mills however, could not resume work awaiting official communication from the state government. (Swapan Mahapatra / PTI)

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A huddle before work at the Deonar flyover site in Mumbai. Maharashtra, which has the highest number of Covid-19 cases for any state, allowed industries to resume work in 20 of its 36 districts, which either don’t have any COVID-19 cases or have very few. Industries in rural areas as well as certain public works in Mumbai have also been allowed. (Vijayanand Gupta / HT Photo)

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Traffic snakes past barricades along the Western Express Highway (WEH) at Goregaon in Mumbai. Despite only some business activity resuming, bottlenecks were quick to form due to stringent checks ensuring there weren’t violation of lockdown restrictions. (Satyabrata Tripathy / HT Photo)

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A labourer harvests wheat crop in a field on the outskirts of Jammu on Monday. The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has allowed for only farm activity with select industrial work allowed to resume outside red zones in addition to municipal work. (ANI)

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A health worker uses an infrared thermometer to check the temperature of a labourer sitting on wheat crop in a tractor trolley at an entry gate of a wholesale grain market, in Chandigarh. Punjab has also not announced any relaxation to lockdown conditions with the exception of wheat procurement in the state. (Ajay Verma / REUTERS)

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MGNREGA work began in Puducherry on Monday. Workers resuming employment were seen practising social distancing and using masks. Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh have also allowed work within the ambit of the MGNREGA. (ANI)

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A worker collects toll tax at Kolkata-Delhi highway in Prayagraj. Toll collection also resumed on Monday after the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had suspended collection on all national highways after the 21-day nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24. (ANI)

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A worker removes dust from a lathe machine inside a workshop which reopened after weeks-long shutdown. (Rupak De Chowdhuri / REUTERS)

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A heavy traffic jam, reminiscent of the national capital’s evenings before the lockdown, was quick to form as people headed home on NH24 near Ghaziabad. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)