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Lockdown 3.0: Here Are Activities Allowed Under MHA New Guidelines

Mumbai: Lockdown in the country increased by two weeks for the third time on Friday. Ministry of Home Affairs has issued guidelines for the extension under the Disaster Management Act,2005. The districts are being classified into three zones with special restrictions on each.

Following are guidelines issued by MHA:

In the period, districts of the country will be divided into three zones, Red (Hotspots), Orange and Green. Red zone districts will be classified on the basis of active cases, doubling the rate of confirmed cases and surveillance feedback. Green zones will be with zero confirmed cases or no active cases in the last 21 days. The district which is nor red neither green will be classified as Orange.

Many districts have one or more Municipal corporations within there boundaries which increase the population density. As per the new guidelines, such areas will be divided into two zones, i.e. one for the area within MCs and other outside the area of MCs. If the area outside the MCs have no case for the last 21 days than it will be one stage lower than the rest of the district, which means the area will be more relaxed.

Sensitive areas as Red and orange zones are designated as Containment zones. These areas should be defined by the district administration, considering total active cases, their geographical spread and the need to have well-demarcated perimeters from the enforcement point of view. The local authority shall ensure 100% coverage of Aarogya Setu app among the residents of containment zones.

The number of activity will remain prohibited throughout the nation, irrespective of zones. These include travel by air, rail, metro and interstate movement. Running of schools, colleges, and other educational and training/ coaching institutions; hospitality services, including hotels and restaurants; places of large public gatherings, such as cinema halls, malls, gymnasiums, sports complexes etc.; social, political, cultural and other kinds of gatherings; and, religious places/ places of worship for the public. However, movement of persons by air, rail and road is allowed for select purposes, and for purposes as permitted by the government.

. Movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities, shall remain strictly prohibited between 7 PM to 7 AM. Local authorities shall issue orders under appropriate provisions of law, such as curfew under Section 144 of CrPC, and ensure strict compliance. In all zones, persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years, shall stay at home, except for meeting essential requirements and for health purposes. Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) and medical clinics shall be permitted to operate in Red, Orange and Green zones, with social distancing norms and other safety precautions in place.

However, these will not be permitted within the Containment zones.

In red zones, outside the containment zone, certain activities are prohibited in addition to those in the country. These include cycle rickshaws and auto-rickshaws, running of cabs, intradistrict and inter-district plying of buses and barber shops, spas and salons.

Movement of individuals and vehicles is allowed only for permitted activities in Red zones, with a maximum of 2 persons (besides the driver) in four-wheeler vehicles, and with no pillion rider in the case of two-wheelers. Industrial establishments in urban areas, viz., Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Export Oriented Units (EOUs), industrial estates and industrial townships with access control have been permitted.

The other industrial activities permitted are manufacturing units of essential goods, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw material and intermediates; production units, which require continuous process, and their supply chain; manufacturing of IT hardware; jute industry with staggered shifts and social distancing; and, manufacturing units of packaging material.

Shops in urban areas, for non-essential goods, are not allowed in malls, markets and market complexes. However, all standalone (single) shops, neighbourhood (colony) shops and shops in residential complexes are permitted to remain open in urban areas, without any distinction of essential and non-essential.

In the Green zones, all activities are permitted except the limited number of activities which are prohibited throughout the country, irrespective of the zone. However, buses can operate with up to 50% seating capacity and bus depots can operate with up to 50% capacity.

All goods traffic is to be permitted. No state/ UT shall stop the movement of cargo for cross land-border trade under treaties with neighbouring countries. No separate pass of any sort is needed for such movement, which is essential for maintaining the supply chain of goods and services across the country during the lockdown period.

No separate permissions will be needed for from authorities for activities already permitted to operate under the guidelines on lockdown measures up to May 3. The Standard Operating Protocols (SOPs) issued by MHA will continue to operate such as transit arrangement for foreign nationals in India, the release of quarantine persons, movement of stranded labour within States/UTs, sign-on and sign-off of Indian seafarers, movement of stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons by road and rail.

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