As many cities, districts witness a rise in the COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra government has asked the local authorities to take a call on various measures that may be needed. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the Collectors, Municipal Commissioners, Police Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to take decisions based on the respective situation.
However, the state government has not yet taken a decision to impose lockdown in cities and areas where cases are being reported.
State Textiles, Ports and Fisheries Minister Aslam Shaikh, who is also the Guardian Minister of Mumbai, said that it can be a night curfew, complete or partial lockdown as cases are on the rise in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. "Nightclubs are likely to be shut first," he added. He further said, "After the assembly session, a decision has to be taken to ban [people from visiting] places like Chowpatty and Gateway of India where there are unwarranted crowds. People often travel from Mumbai to Pune and Mumbai to Thane. Officers have been asked to check if restrictions on travel are needed".
After presenting the state budget on March 8, the CM had indicated some measures. Addressing the reporters, he said, "Yes, cases are on the rise, buy the end of the Budget session or in a few days, we have to decide. We will meet again and I will inform or I will do Facebook live, which the opposition likes".
Lockdown in Mumbai has been ruled out as of now, however the city recorded around 1,014 cases of Covid-19 and four deaths on March 8 taking the total count of active cases to 9373.
Meanwhile there are certain districts and cities where lockdown or night curfews have been imposed by the authorities, here's a look:
Thane: Lockdown in hotspot area till March 31
Though the rate of recovery in Thane is 96 percent, the number of patients continues to rise due to which the number of hotspots in the city has gone up to 16. In order to curb the spread of the virus, the lockdown has been imposed in 16 hotspots till March 31. The Kalwa Ward Committee area in Circle One has hotspots in Witwa, Ainagar, Suryanagar, Kharegaon area, while Chendni Koliwara, Wagle and Srinagar area. Circle two have hotspots such as Lodha Amara, Hiranandani Estate, Hiranandani Meadows Housing Complex and Lokmanya. Savarkarnagar Ward Committee Area hotspots are at Dostanagar, Shivai Nagar, Chorus Tower, Kolabad and Rustomji Vrindavan.
The city reported 93 new cases of Covid-19 and 0 deaths on Monday. The number of active Covid cases in is Thane is 10,397.
Partial lockdown in Aurangabad
The district shall be going under partial lockdown from March 11 till April 4. The decision was taken by District Collector Sunil Chavan to curb the spike in Covid-19 cases. As per the orders, there be a strict and complete lockdown on weekends. On the rest of the days, shops will be allowed to open between 6 am and 9 pm.
Political, social gatherings, religious places and events, weekly markets, sports competitions, schools, colleges will remain banned during this period. Even if the surge did not reverse despite the restrictions, the local authorities may consider a complete lockdown.
The district recorded 37 cases of Covid-19 on march 8. The district has 4,472 active cases of the virus.
Strict restriction in Nagpur
After noticing a considerable rise in Covid cases, the lockdown has been extended in the city till March 14. All hotels, malls, restaurants and private offices will be closed during the weekends except for essential services in the city.
Nagpur Municipal Corporation reported 1094 cases on Monday and zero deaths. Nagpur has 12291 active cases.
Partial lockdown in Nashik
Suraj Mandhare, Nashik District Collector on Tuesday announced a partial lockdown in the city from midnight due to the growing number of coronavirus patients in the city. As per orders, all shops in Nasik can only open between 7 AM and 7 PM. Schools in four talukas have been also ordered to remain closed.
Nashik reported 191 new cases of Covid-19 and one death on Monday. The region has 3,884 active cases.
