Section 144 imposed in Mumbai till July 15 amid spike in Covid-19 cases

The Mumbai Police on Wednesday imposed prohibitory orders in the city under Section 144 of the CrPC in the wake of the spread of the coronavirus disease.

The order prohibits presence or movement of one or more persons in public places or gathering of any sort anywhere, including religious places subject to certain conditions.

The order has been signed by Pranaya Ashok, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) and will remain in force till July 15.

Mumbai recorded 893 new cases on Tuesday, which took the total number of cases in the city to over 77,000. It’s after five days that the city recorded less than 1,000 cases. It also reported 95 fatalities, including 57 deaths of the previous weeks, taking the toll to 4,556.

As new cases continued to increase in satellite cities around Mumbai, local authorities in Thane and Mira-Bhayander announced lockdown in the two cities. Thane municipal commissioner Vipin Sharma announced lockdown in Thane city from 7am on July 2 to July 12, restricting movement of people, except for essential work. Thane city has seen 2,533 cases in the past eight days alone.

The Mira-Bhayander municipal corporation, too, announced a complete lockdown till July 10 after cases spiked in the past few days.

Meanwhile, the Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh Mandal, which installs Mumbai’s most famous Ganpati idol, on Wednesday announced cancellation of the Ganesh Chaturthi celebration this year in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It will organise blood and plasma donation camps and provide financial assistance to the families of policemen who died of Covid-19, Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal’s secretary Sudhir Salvi told reporters.

The 10-day festival begins on ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’, which falls on August 22 this year.

The number of recovered Covid-19 patients in Mumbai increased to 44,170 with 625 patients being discharged from hospitals in the city on Tuesday.