Chandigarh curfew to be lifted at Sunday midnight

The Chandigarh administration on Saturday decided to lift the curfew imposed to contain the Covid-19 spread from Sunday midnight and allow opening of sector markets, government and private offices, resumption of industrial activities and movement of vehicles from Monday morning. These will, however, be implemented under an odd-even formula and subject to certain restrictions.

Besides this relief coming after 40 days, the whole city will not remain a containment zone and these will be restricted to the six Covid-19 affected pockets, including parts of hotspots Bapu Dham Colony and Sector 30, where no relaxations will be granted.

Making the announcement, UT adviser Manoj Parida said even as the lockdown was extended for 15 days, relaxations had been given in consonance with the Central guidelines on red zones as the city remained in that category.

“UT, however, has given additional relaxations like new odd-even formula for vehicular movement and general trade based on the feedback from different residential groups,” he said.

Parida said the relaxations will not be applicable to contained pockets where UT administrator VP Singh Badnore stressed on the need for continuous and extensive testing of all suspected cases.

In a statement on Saturday, Badnore also appealed to the citizens to maintain social distancing and warned that areas in which norms were being violated would be declared containment zones again.

ODD-EVEN NEW EXPERIMENT

The odd-even formula will be applicable to shops as well as vehicles, Parida said. From Monday, even numbers for vehicles and shops will be allowed. This will continue on rotation every week. “We may review it if there are some practical issues related to implementation,” Parida said. However these restrictions are not applicable on emergency and government vehicles besides shops providing essential goods.

The idea is to have fewer vehicles on city roads and people have been requested to carpool with others till further relaxations are allowed.

Personal vehicles of government employees will also be not exempt from rules, Parida added, saying no inter-state pass was required for travel to Chandigarh from 7am to 7pm, but odd-even formula was applicable.

Shops will also not be closed on Sunday, he added, with the odd-even scheme also applicable to those operating from residential buildings and commercial areas in rural areas and colonies.

TRADERS SATISFIED, INDUSTRIALISTS NEED CLARIFICATION

The traders were satisfied with the decision to open the shops on odd-even basis, Chandigarh Beopar Mandal chairman Charanjiv Singh said. However, the timings from 7am to 7pm were too long. “I appeal to traders to abide by the guidelines for their own safety,” he added.

Pankaj Khanna, president, Industrial Association of Chandigarh, wanted detailed instructions on opening of industries in the city.

“We have a lot of doubts about the kind of industry that can be opened up under the home affairs ministry’s red zone guidelines, for which we want the administration to release separate instructions. A workforce of more than 30,000 is involved in Chandigarh’s industrial areas and is waiting for long for some industrial revival,” he said.

Hitesh Puri, president, Chandigarh Residents’ Association Welfare Federation , said the step was welcome but the focus of the people and the administration in fighting Covid-19 should not be diluted. Strict action was required against those who violated the restrictions, he added.