Himachal goes into lockdown
SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh has been placed under lockdown indefinitely to check the spread of coronavirus, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur announced in the Assembly on Monday.
The chief minister made the announcement before the Assembly was adjourned.
“The state has already banned the congregation of people in one place. All educational institutes and temples have been closed down and entry of foreign and domestic tourists has been banned in the state,” he said.
He said that restrictions have also been imposed on industrial units and government offices.
CM appreciated people of the state for observing the ‘Janata Curfew’ on Sunday and said, “Keeping in view the situation prevailing nationwide, we need to take more pre-emptive steps to check the spread of the virus.”
“The state government has already imposed a complete lockdown in Kangra on Sunday and the same is extended to the entire state till further orders,” he added. Through the House, Thakur said, “I urge people of the state to follow the advisory issued by the government from time to time in letter and spirit. I want to assure people that the government is fully committed to fighting the pandemic and they should also perform their duty with utmost sincerity.”
Meanwhile, state chief secretary Anil Khachi issued an order notifying a complete lockdown in the state with immediate effect till further orders. As per the order, all inter-state movement and contract carriage, including
auto-rickshaws, trains and flights are prohibited.
Private vehicles will ply only if they need to cater to emergency services. Goods carrier, however, will be allowed.All shops, commercial establishment, factories, workshops, godowns shall close down operations, except those dealing in essential commodities, chemist stores, soap manufacturing units, and optics shops. Petrol pumps, LPG gas stores, oil agencies and their godowns shall remain open. E-commerce delivery of all essential goods will also be allowed. Manufacturing units requiring continuous process, and those manufacturing alcohol for medicine, sanitisers shall continue operations.
Strict home quarantine shall be observed by foreign returnees. Non-essential government offices will remain closed except for those dealing in emergency and essential services.
People are required to stay indoors and come out only to visit grocery stores, vegetable shops, chemists and essential and permitted work-related travel that too while strictly following social distancing guidelines. Meantaxis, while, shops and other commercial establishments remained closed in Hamirpur along with all educational institutions for the second day as per the orders of the state government. The movement of private vehicles that became brisk early in the morning has come down sharply following strict enforcement by the local law and order authorities.
Hamirpur district magistrate Harikesh Meena on Monday urged people to help the authorities in its efforts to contain the spread of the dreaded virus by staying indoors.