Break the chain: Maharashtra govt announces 5-level unlock plan; here's all you need to know

Break the chain: Maharashtra govt announces 5-level unlock plan; here's all you need to know

Sanjay JogUpdated: Saturday, June 05, 2021, 11:14 PM IST
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Mumbai: A health worker collects swab sample of a passenger for COVID-19 test, at Dadar station in Mumbai, Saturday, June 5, 2021. | (PTI Photo)

Mumbai: After U-turn now comes an official order on the unlock strategy in the state. The Maharashtra government in the late-night order on Friday has announced a five-step unlock plan under the BreakTheChain order from Monday.

Under the new guidelines, the state’s districts will be divided into five levels based on weekly positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancies. The state government said that districts in Level 1 will have minimum restrictions, while lockdown-like curbs will be imposed in districts falling in the Level 5 category.

Initially, the municipal corporations of Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nashik, Pimpri Chinchwad, Aurangabad, Vasai-Virar, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Solapur and Kalyan-Dombivali will be treated as separate administrative units. The remaining area in each of the 34 districts other than the Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban district shall form a separate single administrative unit.

Level 1 will have Aurangabad, Bhandara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Jalgaon, Jalna, Latur, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Parbhani, Thane, Washim, Wardha and Yavatmal districts. Level 2 will have Ahmednagar, Amravati, Hingoli, and Dhule. In Level 3, Mumbai, Akola, Beed, Palghar, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Osmanabad, Sangli, Satara, Sindhudurg and Solapur will fall. Pune and Raigad will open later.

However, the general public is barred from travelling Mumbai local trains. Only essential staff are permitted to go by train. Buses in Mumbai will be allowed to run at full capacity, but passengers will not be permitted to travel standing up in order to avoid overcrowding.

All passengers in a vehicle will require individual e-passes while travelling in Level 5. Passengers can move to or from a level 5 district including passing through or stopping inside only with an e-pass. This will be given only in case of medical emergency or for performing an essential duty.

There will be no restriction on public transport in Level 1. In Level 2 and Level 3, 100 percent occupancy is allowed without standing. In level 4 and level 5, public transport can be allowed to operate at up to 50 per cent without allowing passengers to stand inside the bus.

While government offices and emergency services required for Covid-19 management will function at 100 per cent strength, other government offices can have higher attendance with the permission of respective District Disaster Management Authorities. All private offices can be allowed to remain open and offices can open at 100 percent capacity if allowed by the district authorities for Level 1 and Level 2. Private offices will be allowed to remain open till 4 pm on weekdays except exemption categories in Level 3. Only exemption category offices will be allowed to remain open in level 4 and Level 5 districts.

Offices can be open with up to 50 per cent capacity under level 3, 25 per cent under level 4 and 15 per cent under level 5.

No fresh guidelines have been issued for inter-state travel.

The government in the order said the restrictions in every administrative unit can potentially change every Monday depending on the case positivity rate and oxygen beds occupancy data to be released by the Public Health Department on Thursday in the week before. The District Disaster Management Authorities shall have the power to make minor modifications in the unlock guidelines to meet local exigencies with the concurrence of the State Disaster Management Authority.

Moreover, the government has said that as medical oxygen is quite crucial to treat the COVID 19 patients it may increase the restrictions to ensure that the number of patients requiring O2 does not overwhelm the available oxygen supply.

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