MetrotoopenonSept7, schoolstoremainshut

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Saturday issued guidelines for the fourth phase of an exercise to lift restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), announcing that metro rail services can resume in a graded manner from September 7, and political, social, religious and sporting activities with crowds limited to 100 people will be allowed along with limited academic activities.

While issuing “Unlock 4” guidelines, which will come into effect from Tuesday, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said the latest plan was aimed at reopening more economic activities outside containment zones and that it was issued after receiving feedback from states and Union Territories, and extensive consultations with the central ministries and departments.

The latest guidelines said that from September 1, states and UTs won’t be able to impose any local lockdowns at the state/district/ sub-division/city level or on weekends outside the containment zones without prior consultation with the Centre.

“States/UTs will have to take permission from the Centre now before imposing any lockdowns of their own as these localised restrictions were disrupting economic activities without any logic,” a home ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

The guidelines said that metro rail services will be allowed to operate from September 7 in a graded manner and the standard operating procedure (SOP) for this will be issued by the ministry of housing and urban affairs.

The new norms on resumption of metro rail are likely to include contact-less ticketing through metro cards, increase in the average stoppage time at each station, markings for queues across all stations to control crowds and maintaining social distancing and an overhaul in the air conditioning system inside the trains to ensure supply of fresh air, HT reported on August 24.

The government imposed strict curbs on activities and travel across the country on March 25. After 68 days of a hard lockdown, the government began implementing a graded plan to reopen businesses and bring economic activities, hit hard by the pandemic and the restrictions that followed, back on track in June. It was then that the “Unlock 1” phase guidelines came into place. Shops, malls, hotels and restaurants, offices and religious places have been allowed to open in a phased manner over the past few months.