Curfew in Chandigarh extended till May 3, relaxation timings to be decided April 20

Following the Centre’s decision to extend the lockdown till May 3, the UT administration on Tuesday, decided to continue the curfew in tandem with the Centre.

The development comes on a day when no fresh case of Covid-19 has been reported in the city, while two patients have recovered and were discharged from Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research. With this, the total number of active cases in the city, which has recorded 21 cases since March 18, stand at 12.

The Chandigarh administration will also take a call on fresh restrictions or relaxations during the curfew, if any, on April 20, after examining the extent and frequency of coronavirus cases in the city.

The decision was taken in the daily review meeting chaired by Punjab governor and UT administrator VPS Badnore. He urged residents to bear with the inconvenience in the larger interest of the country.

Even as the administration debated over relaxations to be introduced during the curfew, a decision has been taken to implement Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of stricter enforcement till April 20, and not introduce any relaxations in this week. Badnore said the next week would prove extremely crucial and any relaxation at this stage will spoil the benefits accrued so far by maintaining strict curfew in the city.

The curfew imposed on March 24, a day before the 21-day lockdown was announced from March 25 onwards.

Significantly, while most states opted for a lockdown, Chandigarh, like Punjab, imposed a curfew. However, after it was slammed for failing to deliver essential commodities to the doorstep as promised, the administration had to introduce an eight-hour relaxation. Later, the relaxation period was halved to four hours from 11 am to 3pm. Any change in curfew relaxation timings will be examined next week.

Reiterating that all restrictions should be enforced strictly, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla, on Tuesday, wrote to the administration, stating, “With the extension of the lockdown, all restrictions imposed in various sectors and on various activities, will continue to remain in force. These restrictions, which have been spelt out in consolidated guidelines of ministry of home affairs, must be enforced strictly.” The letter further emphasised that the UT could not dilute restrictions imposed by the Centre.

UT adviser Manoj Kumar Parida said, “We are already one-step ahead of the lockdown as we imposed a curfew. No additional restriction is needed at this point, but a review will be done on April 20.”

Some instructions are still awaited from Government of India regarding benefits to be provided to affected farmers and daily wage earners. The departments concerned will examine and submit their proposals to the administrator for a final decision, Parida added. The central government is expected to issue detailed guidelines to all states and Union territories on Wednesday.

CURFEW EXTENSION
---Curfew extend till May 3
---Decision on fresh restrictions or relaxations on April 20
---Curfew relaxations timings remain from 11 am to 3 pm
---Curfew passes issued under ‘Government officers/officials’ and ‘essential services’ extended up to May 3