Industries in K’taka may start from May 4

BENGALURU: Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday announced that all industries in the state outside containment zones will be allowed to operate from May 4, a day after the lockdown imposed to check the Covid-19 spread is slated to end.

He said the Covid-19 cases might continue for another two to three months and added efforts to control the pandemic would go hand in hand with economic activity which has almost fully stopped due to the lockdown.

Yediyurappa said the cases reported from Bengaluru have been coming down for the last two to three days but they will wait for a few more days to take a final decision on allowing economic activities in the city. Bengaluru, which has reported 147 of Karnataka’s 565 Covid-19 cases, has around 24 containment zones. The city is Karnataka’s economic engine and contributes nearly half of the state’s revenues.

Yediyurappa said they have no plans for allowing malls, hotels or movie theatres to reopen and added the state would wait for Centre’s directives before taking a final decision.

Yediyurappa later met representatives of associations of commerce and industries and asked them to be ready to resume operations. He appealed to the industrialists to pay wages and salaries to their employees.

The Karnataka cabinet met separately and decided to issue one-time permits for inter-state and inter-district for stranded migrants and labourers.

Law minister JC Madhuswamy said the cost of travel would be borne by those who want to travel and the government would only provide permits and bus services. On Wednesday, another minister, Suresh Kumar, said the state would bring back stranded people from Karnataka from Gujarat and buses would be sent for the purpose.

THE STATE WILL WAIT A FEW MORE DAYS TO TAKE A FINAL DECISION ON ALLOWING ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN B’LURU