Maha gears up for phased easing of Covid curbs

MUMBAI: Life will slowly start getting back to normalcy in Mumbai and other cities in the Mumbai metropolitan region from Monday as the Maharashtra government has begun relaxing the restrictions imposed during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

All shops will be allowed to open, restaurants can serve customers, private offices can be reopened with 50% staff and people can go for jogging and to gymnasiums with certain conditions. Movement will be freely allowed till 5pm, shops and restaurants can entertain customers till 4pm.

While suburban train travel won’t be allowed for the general public, commuters can travel by BEST buses provided there are no standing passengers -- something that is difficult during peak hours in Mumbai or Thane or Navi Mumbai.

The state government, in its order issued late on Friday, announced lifting of the curbs imposed from April 5 in the wake of rising cases. The relaxations will come into effect from Monday. Instead of passing a blanket order for the entire state, the state government has divided the districts and cities into five categories to begin the process of unlocking under its “break the chain” initiative. The unlocking has been linked with the test positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy in areas by dividing them into five categories.

Mumbai and most of the cities in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) fall in category or level 3 under which the opening up of activities can begin from Monday. “The orders and classification of the areas are more pragmatic. This fixes the responsibility on local administrations -- district collectors or municipal corporations – to reduce the spread of the virus and augment infrastructure,” said an official requesting anonymity.

The new order issued by relief and rehabilitation secretary Aseem Kumar Gupta late on Friday night, after the decision in a State Disaster Management Authority meeting on Thursday, comes into force from Monday.

“...Mumbai corporation has taken the decision to not allow trains for women as it leads to a lot of crowding, leaving its effect in the entire MMR. Similar decisions will be taken at the local level,” said an official from the relief and rehabilitation department. The official said that most of the districts are happy with the exercise. “There was a bit of confusion over the opening of the activities, but they have been clarified in a meeting chaired by the CM...,” he said.

The notification also warns of blanket restrictions across the state if the oxygen bed occupancy goes up. “The state’s daily production of medical oxygen is 1,200 metric tonnes which can cater to maximum 60,000 patients with the need of the oxygen...,” the notification said.

The state government is also considering introducing another parameter linked with vaccination. “The relaxation will be linked with the vaccination percentage at a later stage once the vaccines are amply available...,” another official said.