Mumbai: The Maharashtra Government on Tuesday issued revised guidelines for lockdown 4.0, whereby there will be only red and non red zones.
The red zone comprises all the municipal corporations in Mumbai Metropolitan Region and nine other civic bodies -- Pune, Solapur, Aurangabad, Malegaon, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Akola and Amravati.
In all these areas, strict curbs will continue to be in place, but in the other areas the government has opened up in a bid to revive the economy. The new guidelines will come into effect from May 22.
E-COMMERCE: As per these, ecommerce for essential as well as non-essential items and material has been permitted in red zones. Likewise, all industrial units/construction sites are allowed to operate in the red zones.
Sports complexes, stadia and other public open spaces will also remain open for individuals to exercise in non-red zones, but the entry of spectators and group activities is prohibited. Intra-district bus service with a maximum 50% capacity has been allowed in non-red zones.
Private and government offices with 100% presence, home delivery restaurants and registration and RTOs in non-red zones will be operational. In red zone, shops, malls, establishments and industries will be permitted to remain open from 9 am to 5 pm, but only for upkeep and maintenance.
In non-red zones, these will be open for customers. However, in case of crowding or failure of social distancing norms, the authorities will immediately close down the entities. The movement of individuals between 7 pm to 7 am is prohibited. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which bars assembly of four or more people, continues to be in force across the state.
NEW DEFINITION OF CONTAINMENT ZONE The state government has empowered municipal district authorities to demarcate containment zones. The containment zones can be a residential colony, a Mohalla, a slum, a building, a lane, a police state area, a village or small clusters.
Only essential activities will be allowed in a containment zone. According to the guidelines, the district administration cannot amend or issue their own set of norms without approval of the Chief Secretary.
As reported by FPJ, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has ruled out lifting of the measures implemented, especially in red zones, to check the spread of the coronavirus. Thackeray has said that lifting of lockdown measures would result in the spread of the pandemic.
